Similarities Between The Second Red Scare And The Crucible

New Historicists look at events occurring in the world at the time a literary work was written. Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible, was accused of being a Communist in 1957 during The Red Scare. “In developing his script, when Miller visited Salem in 1952 he immediately realized the parallels between Salem in 1692 and the then-current United States” (“Why I Wrote The Crucible”). The parallels are what caused him to write the play. The citizens of the United States and Salem were both plagued with anxiety. Is it human nature to follow into and/or create mass hysteria? During The Red Scare and The Crucible innocent people were condemned, and the injustice of the matter amplified

Communism. Witchcraft. These two highly controversial topics are either feared or adored by people. There are numerous similarities and differences between both, yet one thing is prominent: they both incite hysteria. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegorical play mirroring 1950’s America during the Red Scare. “McCarthyism” is the act of accusing someone of an act of treason without substantial evidence. It relies on the uncertainty and the fear of the unknown among people, which in turn, incites hysteria. Joseph McCarthy accused many people of being communists without much evidence or reason. The accusations in The Crucible also are proposed without evidence and cause much hysteria among the town. Since The Crucible was written as an

“Arthur Miller made the play called “The Crucible” during the 1950’s as a response to McCarthyism and the U.S. Governments blacklisted people.”(Blakesley). Miller was then question and accused of “Contempt of Congress” for not identifying people that were at meetings he attended. McCarthyism and The Salem Witch Craft Trials have been two very wrong things that have happened in the history of the United States for a lot of reasons. First off they both wrongfully accused innocent people of performing not accepted actions of those times. In America you have a right of free will and in both cases they were denied this right just because of someone else’s opinion. In both cases of the Salem Witch Craft Trials and McCarthyism people were being accused of acts with little evidence. People pointed fingers at others so they wouldn’t get blamed for anything, so there was a scare factor taking place. Large groups of people supported these acts maybe because of a get on board everyone’s doing it theme, and if you disagreed you were considered a witch or a communist. Our country supported McCarthy until later we soon regretted it. During the 1940’s and 1950’s communism was a scare in the U.S. so McCarthy capitalized on the subject and said two hundred card carrying communist were in the U.S(PBS). With the Salem Trials people capitalized on the scare of witches and everyone starting accusing the “weird” people. Accusations weather true or false can

The Crucible is the fictional story of the Salem witch trials in which many women were accused of being witches. The Crucible is written by Arthur Miller, who was recorded as the greatest American playwright (“Arthur Miller” 1). The scene for the play is based in the Massachusetts Bay Colony around 1692. McCarthyism was the act of accusing people of treason without evidence, attacks on a person's character, and attack on their patriotism by accusing many Americans of being communist (Ortega). Lisa Martin says, “Communists control led the two world superpowers, China and the Soviet Union Americans feared a takeover in their own country” (Martin 1). Many people tried to accuse the men and women who were spreading the fear. One man named Joseph McCarthy was a senator that charged communists that interfered with the U.S. State Department (“Joseph McCarthy” 1). The accusations lead to investigations, questioning and finding people guilty without evidence,

Arthur Miller, wrote The Crucible with the intention of comparing The Red Scare to The Salem Witch Trials. One of the many similarities between The Red Scare and The Salem Witch Trials is the way both events started. Both events were started by people making false accusations. During The Red Scare people were accused of being communists. At one of his speeches in Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed to "hold in my hand" a list of individuals who were both serving in government and participating in the communist party. (Brinkley2) Thanks to McCarthy's popular style, people never questioned his supposed list. During

How scary would it be to hear someone accusing people of something that they’re not and the people accused have the punishment of death? Well it has happened; in 1692 with the Salem Witch Trials and again in the early 1950’s with the Red Scare. How weird is it that those two events had centuries between them yet the same situations happened? Arthur Miller was a writer in the 1950’s who lived through the hysteric events of the Red Scare while writing “The Crucible”. This timing explains why the characters, accusations, and the outcome of the Salem Witch Trials can compare to the people, accusations, and the outcome of the Red Scare.

Arthur Miller, wrote The Crucible with the intention of comparing the Red Scare to the Salem Witch Trials. One of the many similarities between the Red Scare and the Salem Witch Trials is the way both events started. Both events were started by people making false accusations. During the Red Scare people were accused of being communists. At one of his speeches in Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed to "hold in my hand" a list of individuals who were both serving in government and participating in the communist party. (Brinkley2) Thanks to McCarthy's popular style, people never questioned his supposed list. During the Salem Witch Trials people were accused of

In the late 1940’s, hundreds of screenwriters, actors, actresses and entertainers of the Hollywood film industry faced charges of being subversive to America through spies for the Soviet Union. The FBI was accusing many Americans for being loyal to the communist country, this is similar to witch hunts that occurred in Salem, Massachusetts. The “Red Scare” and the Witch Trials both produced mass hysteria as a result of people’s irrational angst. The Crucible a play composed by American author, Arthur Miller who was many of the accused during the red scare, wrote this play about the town Salem that fell into mass hysteria after a group of girls Abigail Williams, Betty Parris, Ruth Putnam, Tituba and Mary Warren wrongfully accused townspeople

A Crucible took place in 1692 when Abagail’s one little lie causes mass hysteria by lying about preforming witchcraft. She and her friends go into the woods to dance and wish for things they want to happen, Abagail wishes that Goody Proctor would die so she could have John Proctor to herself. However, Abagail lies about it and says that she saw someone else with the devil and everyone plays along to save their own skin. This relates to The Red Scare in 1950 when Joseph McCarthy lied about having a list of over two-hundred people in the State Department who were members of the American Communist Party. He knew that everyone was fearful so he took advantage of it, this created McCarthyism and a mass hysteria. The Crucible and The Red Scare

The red scare is a time where America was scared of Communist USSR, the other rival for power. There was a committee, formed in 1938, to search for possible communists in the United States. McCarthy, who was an important politician at the time, began accusing prominent figures, politicians, entertainers, who beliefs were “communist- like” McCarthy once stated , “Where those who were born with every possible advantage are the ones who have been most traitorous” He is trying to say, that those who grown up with more advantages are more likely to get greedy and then become traitors. “McCarthy addressed the Senate and made a list of questionable claims. His proof was flimsy and he

The playwright “The Crucible” can be seen as a direct allegory to the Red Scare in the 1950s. The so-called witch hunt, where many people were accused of working with Devil, is a direct symbol of the United States when Joseph McCarthy “made a public accusation that more than two hundred “card-carrying” communist had infiltrated the government(McCarthyism).” His accusation caused a widespread panic as suspicion spread among people in America. Accusations in “The Crucible” and during the McCarthy era were made in order to gain something personally without even the slightest thought about what could happen in the end. McCarthy started the panic to secure political popularity, and also be broadcasted everywhere; Abigail and many of the other townspeople

The Crucible was based on the historical account of the Salem witch trials. This play is about pursuing others and wrecking their lives by not having any proof of their guilt. Besides suffering and the unreasonable punishment for their actions, the girls accused other citizens of Salem for practicing witchcraft. The girls in Salem bypass the discipline by accusing others of which they were guilty. In McCarthyism, people were afraid that the communist would spread informations out to the foreign countries. “The government is full of Communists. We can hammer away at them” (200). The Crucible all started when Abigail Williams, the accuser stated, “I saw Goody Hawkins with the Devil!” (51). Abigail stated this because she was

It is often said that history repeats itself, which is the reason there are History and English classes where a student would read historical books and plays. In the late 1940’s, amidst the second World War, America was apprehensive of the threat of Communism and the Soviet Union. During this time, the House of Representatives had created a committee to protect America from the Red Menace, The Un-American Activities Committee investigated possible communists in the U.S. This is when Senator Joseph McCarthy started the unjust hunting of possible Communists. It was during this same time that Arthur Miller, a playwright and essayist, wrote a play based on the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. During the Salem Witch Trials, many young women were accused of witchcraft and put on trial. The whole town was soon afraid of the courts that tried the witches even more than they feared the witches themselves. The parallels between the Crucible and McCarthyism were due to the lack of evidence, victims being pressured to confess names, and being rewarded compliance.

During witch-hunts, any evidence against someone is significant, and it can be falsified. During the red scare in the mid 1950s, one senator became the face of ratting out the communists within, and that was Joseph McCarthy. In the Jigsaw articles, as proof that the people McCarthy accused were communists, he used a paper that had the names of communists on, and he was the only one who has the paper. “I have in my hand fifty-seven cases of individuals who would appear to be either card-carrying members or certainly loyal to the communist part…” In the crucible, Joseph McCarthy is replaced with a large group of girls, with the “ring leader” of the girls being Abigail, the former maid for the Proctor’s. She accuses Elizabeth proctor of witch-craft, after she is stabbed in the stomach by a pin needle, she uses it to pass off evidence that Elizabeth is using spiritual powers. These different but miniscule pieces of evidence were both used to accuse people during different types of witch hunts.

In the 1940s, America was living in fear. Hiding in plain sight, Communists were infiltrating the country. Including everyone from government employees to actors were being given orders to testify before congress. The truth behind this story is that an ambitious Senator, Joseph McCarthy had scared the country into dividing large groups of innocent Americans. The paranoia that ensued lead to a congressional committee accusing and in some cases imprisoning these citizens only for their alleged beliefs. Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible explores a similar time period, a period of great fear and meritless accusations. Miller explores the similarities between The Salem Witch Trials and the House Un-American Activities Committee. Plus the damage which they inflicted on their communities.