They made life miserable for those accused and did not stop, even when they had had their “fun”. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, draws obvious parallels between the 1950’s Red Scare and the witch-hunts that took place in Salem of 1692. Miller connects the hysteria brought about through accusations thrown around by both Senator McCarthy and Abigail Williams by emphasizing how much power their groups hold over everyone. During the times of the Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare, fear ruled those unfortunate enough to be involved in nearly any conflict. Be it fear of witchcraft or communism,the fact is that it swept throughout the early and post-industrial United States.
(Sowers, Campbell, and Key) He exaggerated and exploited the evidence and ruined many reputations. The phrase "witch-hunts" derived from the hearings due to the similarity to the Salem witch trials. The Salem witch trial is analogous to the McCarthy trials of 1950; in both situations wide spread hysteria occurs, deriving from existing fears of the people of that era. The Salem witch hunt trials parallel the McCarthy era in three crucial aspects: unwarranted accusations, hostile interrogations of many innocent people, and they demonstrated how hard times lead to society's need to find a scapegoat. The unwarranted accusations that Joseph McCarthy and the citizens of Salem made are what fueled the widespread hysteria in both situations.
Because of the fear of witches, people tried to protect themselves by sending anyone slightly untrustworthy to jail or to Gallows Hill. Centuries later Senator Joseph McCarthy, like Abigail Williams spread fear. Unlike Abigail, McCarthy spread fear about communism during the Second Red Scare. McCarthy started by creating
A History of Persecution For millennium humans have been afraid of the unknown and what they do not understand. This fear has led to violence and the perpetration of unspeakable actions in the name of eradicating that fear. During the 1940’s and 50’s the United States was suffering under the fear of communist sabotage and were turning to McCarthyism to root out the traitors. Playwright Arthur Miller saw the unfairness and mad persecutions that were sweeping the nation and satired it all in his play The Crucible which is a retelling of the Salem Witch Trials that took place in Massachusetts in 1692. Miller used the play to represent injustices that were going on at the time such as accusations that had no substantial evidence, an unfair assumption that the accused was guilty until proven innocent, and the tendency of Senator McCarthy to retaliate against any criticism against him an accusation of being a communist sympathizer.
McCarthyism in the 1950’s was the practice of broadcasting allegations of political treachery or rebellion with inadequate regard to evidence. The events that took place in the 1950’s concerning McCarthyism are what inspired Miller to write his play on the Salem witch trials of 1692. The fear of repeating the horrors of the past pushed him to try and open the eyes of those who seemed to be following a dangerous path. The Crucible and McCarthyism both contain instances of false accusation, wrongly gained power, and mass hysteria. Similarly to the Salem witch trials, McCarthyism started in a time of great fear, but instead of fearing witches that made pacts with the Devil, the people of the 1950’s feared communism.
The townsfolk of Salem feared having their own reputations tainted by the sins of others, that they distant themselves and even accused others in order to protect or promote their respective reputations. During time of hysteria, old grudges and jealousies flared, adding to the atmosphere of tension. 4. Characters Transformation: John Proctor (Protagonist) - John Proctor sees himself as a strong, stern, honest man except for one affair incident with Abigail that haunts him. Early in the play, he could’ve prevented the spread of the hysteria by testifying against Abigail’s accusations.
Toby is confronted with a series of ‘tyrant’ men who use unrelenting violence and blatant manipulation in order to control their wives and children. Whilst demonstrating some degree of unease about these men’s actions and their ‘occasional brutality’ towards his mother, Toby’s vulnerability in this crucial developmental stage in his life, forces him to consider this to be the definition of a man. Considering and applying this dominant definition of masculinity proves to be an error of judgement made by Toby. At some stage Roy is what Toby thinks ‘a man should be’ and is the instigator of his feelings that he needs a weapon ‘for the way it completes him’. Roy, like Dwight, influences Toby’s relationship with his mother and forces Toby to withhold the truth from her.
This particular phase in history of the United States is referred to as either ‘The Red Scare’ or ‘McCarthyism’ because of the government-initiated propaganda against Communism. This era’s anti-communist hearings destroyed lives and friendships as paranoia swept America, according to Arthur Miller (Miller “Are You”). “The Crucible” evokes a lethal brew of illicit sexuality, and a fear of the supernatural and political manipulation, a combination that was similar to McCarthyism. When Miller wrote it, Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Committee on Un-American Activities wanted him to sign an anti-communist declaration because the object was to destroy the least credibility of any and all ideas associated with socialism and communism (Miller “Why I”). Whether McCarthy was right or wrong, people can learn some important lessons from the past, present, and future.
His self-torture leads him to walk “under the influence of a species of somnambulism”, thinking irrationally in a way not like himself. His pent up agony causes Dimmesdale to act out in ways like this that could reveal his secret. Dimmesdale’s psychological agony partly stems from a form of spiritual alienation. As a minister, he has a close relationship with God and has a strong sense of spirituality. Due to his sin, his relationship with God suffers in the way that his sin separates him from the teachings of Jesus.
Trying the fight through this deception his illness becomes more apparent and Dimmesdale begins to see that a confession is eminent. In addition to his chicanery he also begins to feel guilty about the situation he is in. While the deceiving members of the community played a role in his confession, his personal guilt was more of a factor leading to this occurrence. For example “His inward trouble drove him to practices more in accordance with the old, corrupted faith of Rome, than with the better light of the church in which he had been born and bred. In Mr. Dimmesdale’s secret closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge” (Hawthorne 133).