Connecting McCarthyism and The Crucible Essay Example

📌Category: Plays, The Crucible
📌Words: 740
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 23 June 2021

In The Crucible, hysteria is mounting as characters falsely search out anyone who resembles a witch, much like the manhunt for anyone involved in the possibility of being a communist from the McCarthyism era. 

The Crucible is a 1953 play written by Arthur Miller about the Salem witch trials of 1692.  In the novel, Reverend Parris finds some girls dancing naked in the forest who claim they were bewitched. A special court investigates these allegations. Over a hundred of Salem’s citizens are accused of witchcraft. McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason, especially when related to communism . The term refers to the U.S senator Joseph McCarthy and has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting from the late 1940s through the 1950s. Miller uses the Salem witch trials, which everyone in the 1950s agreed were based on lies and irrationality, to expose the lying and irrationality of McCarthy and to urge people to have the courage to stand up to him. 

“Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to criticize McCarthyism and everything happening with McCarthy. Miller made sure people who read the play can make a connection to the Salem witch hunts. Major characters in The Crucible have connections to major people during the McCarthy era. Abigail Williams has a distinct connection to Joseph McCarthy as both are the main starters of both events. Abigail went to accuse many people without any proof because she disliked them for her own personal gain. McCarthy also went to accuse many people without any proof which led to his personal gain, but it was off of anger towards the communists and not individuals” ( 2014). 

In both the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy Era, we see that unscrupulous people get ahead by using other people's fears.   The "witch hunt" allows people in Salem to accomplish "long-held hatreds of neighbors could be openly expressed, and vengeance taken" as well as "old scores could be settled on a plane of heavenly combat between Lucifer and the Lord". Revenge plays a significant role in making Putnam believe Rebecca Nurse is guilty of witchcraft, and of making other people accuse each other of witchcraft. She started to accuse her of witchcraft by stating that Elizabeth sent her a spirit to stab her with a needle.

“Both parties (McCarthy and the girls in Salem) accused people of making themselves look better to others and gain respect. Both of them have received respect from others, which is a lot of things they don't have, especially the girl in Salem, Massachusetts” (2014).

The symbolism between the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy era is an important warning to society that when condemning people not based on real evidence, but rather condemning based on fear and unfounded accusations are rarely keeping the best interest of a community at the forefront. People in Salem would usually confess because they were afraid of dying. After they got accused, they would be tried in court, and be sent off for no good reason. (Lorcher, Trent) “ During McCarthyism those who were accused were assumed guilty, put on trial, and expected to divulge the names of other Communist sympathizers. Failure to do so led to sanctions. The Crucible: Those who are accused are assumed guilty, put on trial, expected to confess, and expected to accuse others of being witches. Failure to do so leads to death” (2009). 

McCarthyism coincided with an increased and popular fear of communist espionage that was consequent of the increasing tension in the Cold War through the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe. Both The Crucible and McCarthyism were supported by others. People supported Abigail and Rev.Parris in different types of ways. For example when Abigail would try to tell a lie, the girls would all follow her moves and lie for her. McCarthyism was supported by many different groups, including a lot of anti- communist organizations; there was no solid number for the victims of McCarthyism, and people who were accused. 

While looking throughout history, it is possible to retrace events and see where society has repeated its mistakes. Two of these events that are different in some ways, but similar in more, are the witch hunts that took place in Salem during 1692 and the era of McCarthyism brought on by an anti-Communist movement led by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Amongst the many similarities between the two events are the way in which it affected the lives of those who participated, the questioning that was brought upon the people that were accused, and the manner in which each event came to an end through the realization of how unnecessary it really was. The Crucible by Arthur Miller does an excellent job of comparing these two very separate events.

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