The Crucible and the Mice of Men Essay

Can justice; fair treatment, exist in a world of prejudice; preconceived bias opinions? In both works of American Literature about the United States judicial system; The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and Twelve Angry Men by Reginald rose extol the pursuit of justice while questioning the place of prejudice in the judicial system. These plays unveil the fact that; only by overcoming and setting aside prejudices can justice be attained. The Crucible takes place during puritan times when the word of mouth was proof of guilty, while Twelve Angry Men takes place during the 20th century when the word of mouth must be proven true prior to a verdict. Hover both plays exhibit a reasonable protagonist who stands against all his misguided peers in the

'The Crucible' is a play written by Arthur Miller in which he demonstrates the familiarities of the life he lived in the nineteen-fifties. He communicates through his work to the way people are in his society and what people were like in the seventeenth century. However, 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is a prose, written by Harper Lee in the nineteen-sixties in which she illustrates, how racism was acceptable, and injustice was a problem in which everyone faced in the nineteen-thirties. Both of these literally acclaimed works are based on real life events, whether that is the Salem which trials in The Crucible or childhood events in 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.

The horrors of history are passed on from generation to generation in hopes that they will never occur again. People look back on these times and are appalled at how horrendous the times were; yet, in the 1950s, history repeated itself. During this time, Joseph McCarthy, a United States senator from Wisconsin, began accusing people of being communists or communist sympathizers, which is parallel to the Salem witch trials in the late 1690s when innocent people were accused of practicing witchcraft. One of the people McCarthy accused was author and playwright Arthur Miller. To express his outrage at McCarthy’s actions, miller wrote The Crucible, intentionally drawing similarities between the McCarthy hearings and the Salem witch trials.

Discrimination if often based on many qualities and abilities. Some of the most clearly shown examples in John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men are gender, age and racial discrimination. The victims of these types of discrimination are Curley’s wife, who is unhappy and bitter about her life, Candy, the old, disabled swamper and Crooks, the black stable buck. Throughout the novel, these three characters face many hardships because they are harshly judged and often misunderstood.

Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible, and the movie with the same name have many differences and similarities, all of which contribute to the individual effectiveness of each in conveying their central message.

The Crucible is arguably the greatest pieces of American literature ever written by playwright Arthur Miller. But, in 1996 a film was created to put the words of Miller onto the big silver screen for many people across the nation to see. Although both works were received very well, the two of them have many different elements. These differences from the book to the movie include the setting, the execution of all the victims, the kiss of John and Abigail, where the girls run, and the discussion of John and Goody Proctor. These differences from the book to the movie have affected both in many different ways.

Authors used their literary work to get a point across to the public in the story The Crucible; Arthur Miller used events and characters to show the similarities to McCarthyism which was prevalent in the 1950s. McCarthyism was associated with the period in the United Sates also known as the Second Red Scare. McCarthyism is very similar in the way that Joe McCarthy accused Americans of being communist and in The Crucible people were being accused of being witches. It is known that Arthur Miller wrote this story as a reaction to a tragic time in our history.

In Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” it tells the tale of the Salem Witch Trials. At the time of the play, the McCarthy trials, named after Sen. Joseph McCarthy, were underway. Though, instead of hunting for witches, they were hunting for communists. These two trials may have happened at different points in history, but were in many ways the same. Whether it was death to job loss a lot of lives were changed on account of these trials. “The Crucible” and the McCarthy trials have become historically important because they show the process of power, fear, and turmoil.

The Crucible and Twelve Angry Men (1957 film) share many similarities between them, particularly in the themes they convey throughout the texts. Justice and prejudice are the main ideas presented in both texts, however the setting and outcomes differ significantly between the two, providing a different insight in each text. Both authors, Miller and Lumet, present relevant issues in the context of the 1950s that both texts were written. The similar social condition of America that the two texts were published in is a likely factor as to why the two texts have similar motifs presented throughout.

So 'The Crucible' is a subtle way to show what was happening in America at the time without actually relating to that time. In Salem the accused are the communists and the accusers are McCarthyists. So John Proctor the hero of Arthur Millers story is the equivalent of a suspected communist in the USA at the time of the cold war.

In the literary work Of Mice and Men, the reader is introduced to the ranch as a world of its own, within which prejudice plays a significant part. The characters in this novel act as a community in a world of their own, having no connections to any other type of society. A strong point, enforced through many examples in the book, is the constant ability of the stronger to overcome the weaker. The prejudices of the majority towards the minority, at the ranch are the white-males, who retain power over the lesser groups of people. This inequality, as well as the influence of the time period, causes discrimination against people of color, women, and those that are disabled, either mentally or physically.

Elia Kazan’s film On the WaterFront and Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible are two works that have always been paired together because of their similar themes. The crucible; written in 1953 replays an awful chapter of American history regarding witch trials and a vengeful town whose greed for revenge led to deaths of many innocent people. The film on the other hand was created in 1954 and told us the story of a man who freed a town from the hands of a mob. These two authors were once close friends but separated because of certain incidents. When Elia gave names of people who were associated in the Communist party; he included Arthur Miller in his list of names and their rivalry started. In return Arthur made this play showing Elia and others testifying false names. After that, Elia made the film to showing how people needed the truth. These two work of arts have one thing in common, moral dilemma. The Crucible and On the Waterfront both display the theme of Moral Dilemma and the consequences following it.

In John Steinbeck's novel, Of Mice and Men, there are many example of prejudice. The main types of prejudice shown in this novel are racial, sexual and social prejudice.

The Crucible and Death of a Salesman are both written by Arthur Miller in the the 1950’s. During the the 1950’s the Cold War was going on and had impacted American society. Because of the Cold War, the Red Scare began in America which was a widespread fear of communists. This lead to McCarthyism, or the process of making accusations of treason and subversion without evidence to back it up, which caused many people to be accused a communist unfairly. These events during this time period influenced literature and media heavily and is definitely present in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Death of a Salesman. Also, many elements of these two pieces of literature are similar due to the time period in which they were written. The common theme of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and The Crucible is deception, more specifically he is trying to spread a message that deception causes problems, which is still important and relevant today. Arthur Miller portrays this through the characters of Willy Loman and John Proctor, and more explicitly through their deaths.

The story Of Mice and Men took place during the 1930’s. That time period was very different from today. Race and gender were very important characteristics that determined whether a person had the opportunity to make money. The 1930’s were also a time where people started questioning life and the American culture. Many people like John Steinbeck thought that life was very unfair and questioned whether if life was even worth living. In Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck demonstrates that mans dream is destined to be destroyed by a cruel reality.