The Crucible By Comparing The Salem Witch Trials - 1431 Words

A quote by Edward R. Murrow states, â€Å"No one man can terrorize a whole nation unless we are all his accomplices.† During the Red Scare, Senator McCarthy did terrorize a whole nation, and Arthur Miller became a victim of McCarthyism. Miller suffered through accusations of possibly believing in communism; as a result, he wrote a play called The Crucible, in which he used the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 to explain the communist hysteria during the 1950s. Arthur Miller develops an allegory in The Crucible by comparing the Salem Witch Trials to McCarthyism by using ringleaders, persecuted couples, and hypocrisy in the government or legal system. Certainly, Miller creates a parallel using ringleaders such as Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s, and Abigail Williams in The Crucible. Without a doubt, Joseph McCarthy remained the ringleader of the Red Scare; similarly, Abigail Williams became the ringleader of the afflicted girls. The House of Un-American Activity Committee (HUAC) hunted for communists or communist sympathizers during the era of McCarthyism, just as the court hunted for witches throughout The Crucible. Joseph McCarthy led the HUAC, and accused many citizens of attending communist meetings and taking part in plans to make the United States a communist country. McCarthy even said, â€Å"I have here in my hand a list of two hundred and five people that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working andShow MoreRelatedComparing The Crucible and Salem Witch Trials Essay1419 Words   |  6 Pagesto compare and contrast Arthur Miller’s The Crucible with the actual witch trials that took place in Salem in the 17th Century. Although many of the characters and events in the play were non-fictional, many details were changed by the playwright to add intrigue to the story. While there isn’t one specific cause or event that led to the Salem witch trials, it was a combin ation of events and factors that contributed to the birth and growth of the trials. Some of these events included: a small poxRead MoreRed Scare And The Crucible Comparison Essay1008 Words   |  5 PagesRed Scare and The Salem Witch Trials were both events that left a mark in American history. The Red Scare began in 1917 and took place across the United States. The Red Scare was known as the widespread promotion of anti-communism. The Salem Witch Trials began in 1692 and took place in Salem, Massachusetts. The Salem Witch Trials were various court hearings and prosecutions of people in Salem accused of Witchcraft. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, a play about The Salem Witch Trials, to send a messageRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller Essay1646 Words   |  7 Pagesthat came from the 1950s was Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. During a time when the U.S. was worried of communism taking over, Miller released The Crucible, which helped to capture the hysteria that was occur ring. The play presents itself as a metaphor for the House of Un-American Activities Committee that was created during the Cold War when communism was spreading, but Miller never actually referenced it in the play. Although Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is set in the late 1600s, it offers a fine exampleRead MoreThe Crucible By Arthur Miller1355 Words   |  6 Pagesas when comparing two events to prove a point. Proving a point was a necessity for Arthur Miller during the 1950’s, and he proves his point through The Crucible, a play about the Salem Witch Trials. Miller attacks the red scare, which was a time of fear of communism growing in America, and proves the how similar the two events were, and how they are important. As a political allegory of the red scare, Miller’s relatively accurate comparison between the red scare and the Salem Witch Trials throughRead Morethe crucible vs real life766 Words   |  4 PagesLearning From the Past The Salem Witch Trials were an extremely controversial period of time in our history. This was a time of suspicion and accusation of many innocent women and men that led to hysteria and complete turmoil in Salem Village. The Crucible portrays the Salem Witch Trials in a dramatic sense, but there are many similarities between the movie and the actual events. We can use these unusual events to compare to our own lives and learn from the mistakes of our past. I’ve found thatRead MoreAccusation And Defense Of The Salem Witchcraft Trials1658 Words   |  7 PagesRESEARCH PAPER Accusation and defense in the Salem witchcraft trials Suraj Gamal History 1301-73001-73002 JOE L. MCCAMBRIDGE - HISTORY 1301-1302 One of the most infamous Trial in history took place on March 1, 1692. According, to the Library of Congress, Massachusetts authorities catechized Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and an Indian Slave, Tituba regarding their practice in witchcraft. The trial resulted in more than 150 men and women in and around Salem jailed on charges of practicing WitchcraftRead MoreThe Crucible Comparison741 Words   |  3 PagesThe film version of The Crucible depicts the play achieving several depth by depth characteristics that are very similar to the play. The film The Crucible (1996) is introduced chronologically, comparing side by side it is very exact to that of the play. This whole film is based on one simple element and that is witchcraft, the Salem Witch Trials which killed 19 innocent lives who were believed to be associated with the Devil, and believed they were witches that had the ability to fly wherever andRead MoreSimilarities Between Good Night And Good Luck In The Crucible1072 Words   |  5 PagesMiller’s The Crucible, has many unique and complicated characters, purposed to show the severe injustice of the Joseph McCarthy trials in the 1950’s. The injustices created by these trails creates many different conflicts, both internal and external between many different characters. A similar motif is expressed in George Clooney’s Good Night and Good Luck. Arthur Miller uses many different characters to show the chaos the trails created, by relating it to the story of the Salem Witch Trials. The charactersRead MoreThe Human Lust For Power By Arthur Miller1689 Words   |  7 Pagesconstantly analyze its corrupting influence and recursive nature. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, however, highlights a different facet of power: the means by which individuals strive to obtain it. In particular, he focuses on social power and the use of accusatory labels, such as â€Å"witch,† to obtain this power. The story is also a clear extended analogy for American McCarthyism, comparing the absurdity of the Salem witch trials to the equally ridiculous accusations of â€Å"communist sympathies† that destroyedRead MoreCompare And Contrast Young Goodman Brown And Abigail Williams1435 Words   |  6 Pagesshort story Young Goodman Brown, and the play called The Crucible, wrote these two stories as if they were meant to be compared and contrasted. Whether it is Young Goodman Brown himself, or Abigail Williams from The Crucible, there are many similarities, along with diffe rences between them. Along with comparing characters of these stories, we can also compare and contrast the two main themes. These themes are hysteria, and community. In The Crucible, the main theme is hysteria because it seems to overcome