Preview

Crucible Vs Mccarthyism

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
412 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Crucible Vs Mccarthyism
When the Soviet Union is established in 1922, the communist ideology starting to gain strong recognition around the world, including America. Majority of the American do not believe in the idea of communism. However, there's still some believe that the communism offered a much fairer ways of living then Capitalism.

In 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin gave a speech in Virginia questioning his audience how the communist were able to be so effective. He said the answer could be “traitorous action" of American who have a high government position. Then he added, "I have here in my hand a list of 205 names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department." He launched a crusade against subversives, which help him to
…show more content…
Without a solid evidence his accusations drove many out of their jobs. Such reckless action were known as McCarthyism. McCarthyism is not only an injustice system it also creates more fear within the American.

In the Act 1 of The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Betty and Abigail were being diagnosis with unknown illness. In result the many believe that it's the work of witchcraft.

Betty and Abigail claim that Tituba, Sarah Osborne, and Sarah Good are the cause of their situation. Both said Tituba, the slave, once told story about witchcraft. As the play in the book develop, Tituba was forced to confess due to the threat of whip to death by Reverend Parris, her owner. Osborne is a lower class person who had not attend church for 3 years because of illness and dealing with legal issue with the Putnam. In fact, the accusation of Osborne were strongly supported by the Putnam. Ann Putnam believe that she is the reason that cause the death of her children. Sarah Good was lower class person who’s accused to be a witch since she can not recite the ten

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    1. 1:32:22 – 1:32:35 Shot starts with wide shot of Tono lighting a match in a dark room. Mrs. Lautmannova is asleep on the bed right next to him. He begins to shake her awake calling her name. She awakes, startled and asks who it is as she turns and reaches for the light.…

    • 3365 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In neither McCarthyism nor the Salem witch trials were real evidence put forth to prove the guilt of the accused. Instead, people readily agreed with the accusers, having to assume that they were telling the truth. In the fifties, with the war going badly in Korea, the communists were making advances in China and Eastern Europe, which caused the American public to be scared of communists infiltrating the U.S. government. Hundreds of people- actors, government workers, and even military personnel, were accused by McCarthy (Joseph McCarthy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Some admitted to being affiliated with the communist party, and lost their jobs. In 17th century Salem, the girls would completely fabricate evidence against the witches.…

    • 889 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Communism; a threat to the nation of the United States of America. Many Americans believe that people who believe in Communist teachings are corrupt. In 1950, a historical event happened in the US timeline; the Red Scare. Joe McCarthy became a Senator for the state of Wisconsin in 1947. The Red Scare happened from 1947-1957, “The Cold War, which began after the end of World War II, was a period where Americans were extremely paranoid about the threat of Communism.” (“Background to the Red Scare” Par. 1) The Cold War was a period of time where citizens of the United States feared nuclear warfare with the Soviet Union. Joe McCarthy created a list of names that were people of power who were part of the Communist Party. He took a five-city tour,…

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    If people were able to take a look at how the senate bombarded Joseph McCarthy, they would be outraged. They would almost treat him as a second class citizen, ”It took Joseph Mccarthy just under six hours to complete his speech on february 20, 1950 because of constant harassment from hostile senators who interrupted him a total of 120 plus times” (drummey). Senators did so in an attempt to force him into a sort of submission.…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    McCarthyism is the act of exposing actions within the government without proper evidence. It is…

    • 5434 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In both the witch trails and McCarthyism the accusations where based on pointless facts. “They be telling lies about my wife” (miller214). People where lie about people that they think where different or that stood out from the normal. These pointless rumors can affect people’s life and effect people that had no actual involved in it. Some of these cases would violate the civil rights of people. “Protect themselves from violations of civil rights”(Schrecker). Often time’s people would try to protect themselves but the government did not care. The lies and accusation soon became a wide spread hysteria.…

    • 707 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This happened to McCarthyism also. If you didn’t like someone you could accuse them of being a communist and they were jailed. This was just one of the main reasons why people got killed in both The Crucible and The McCarthy trials. The two situations were run be vengeance and the fact that everything flew out of control and when people are in fear of something that is when they are most vulnerable. Eventually McCarthy took his power to far by accusing officials in the government of communism. He accused officials of the Army of communism. This led to him being accused of fraud as well as the people that worked with him in this lie. McCarthyism was a major factor in a change in feelings about both politics and society.…

    • 338 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    You ask me what parallels there are between the play The Crucible and the event The McCarthy Era. There were many parallels throughout the whole play. In this play everyone was blamed for no reason at all and all everyone one did was make excuses to try and not get their own selves in trouble. They were always wondering why everyone was getting tricked into believing that witches existed and it was because they were all just trying to get themselves out of trouble. Arthur Miller shows the audience that people have not moved on that much from when people were believing in the Salem witch trials. All through this play, Miller used the trails in The Crucible and the McCarthy Era because he realized that the events were the same. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to help everyone today, who wasn’t alive back then, notice that they were not going crazy they were just trying to keep themselves alive and just they were believing everything they heard.…

    • 899 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He tirelessly conducted a variety of investigations in various government departments, questioning countless witnesses about their relationships towards communism as people investigated were seen as suspects. Although he failed to make creditable cases against anyone, his vivid and cleverly presented accusations drove some people out of their jobs and brought serious judgement and condemnation to others. Although most of his accusations may have been false, he was able to enshroud people with fear of being convicted of supporting communism, which allowed him to acquire tremendous power over the people of the United states. Now, although he did possess great power, his reign shortly concluded when his wild accusations began to become extensively ridiculous thus making him an…

    • 622 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the play, The Crucible, Abigail Williams and the Putnam family accuse many who are innocent of the crime of witchery. Abigail wants to have John Proctor all to herself, so she accuses his wife of sending her spirit out to stab her. This false accusation leads to Elizabeth being jailed even though she is innocent, and it also leads to the death of John Proctor because he will not sign a false deposition. Abigail ultimately loses her desire, John Proctor, due to her false accusation. Additionally, the Putnams accuse Rebecca Nurse of witchcraft. Rebecca ends up losing her life because of the false accusations. Many people turn on the Putnams and on Abigail because of their false testimonies. This is another result and danger – they lose friendships.…

    • 588 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During what was known as the Red Scare when the senator claim to possess a list of 205 State Department employees who were known Communist moles. This was after World War II when Russia was rising to power and the fear of communist was fresh in very American. Instead of giving his alleged list to the FBI for investigation, McCarthy chose to hold Congressional hearing to investigate the claims personally. A panic spread throughout America just like in the Salem Witch Trails. Everyone quickly began to suspect his or her family and friends as hidden communist, with little to no evidence. Although there were no deaths, many were blacklisted until it had been clear that the list was fraud. This is just another example how mass hysteria can steer a community out of…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Abigail makes her first accusations of witchcraft because of the pressure to find a cause for Betty’s sudden illness. Witchcraft is an evil practice to the Puritans of Salem, and the mention of it worries Abigail’s Uncle, Parris. Parris’s worry and the quickly spreading rumor of witchcraft put pressure on Abigail to explain the events…

    • 694 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rebecca Nurse Injustice

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Rebecca Nurse also known as Goody Nurse throughout most of the play has a very significant response to injustice after being tried for “taking part” in witchly activity. Ann Putnam accuses Rebecca Nurse of witchcraft due to the multiple stillborn babies that she conceived under Nurse’s care, she often criticizes the trials and helps to show us the truth behind the lies. Through the character of Rebecca Nurse the human-feeling side of injustice and how these accusations tear apart the village of Salem is seen.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “There are wheels within wheels in this village, and fires within fires,” (Miller 152). Here, Mrs. Putnam argues with Rebecca Nurse over the cause of the death of her miscarriages. Instead of looking for a logical answer, like Rebecca, Mrs. Putnam believes that the cause was supernatural. Abigail preys on many villagers on the belief of supernatural events and incites them into hysteria. Her exaggerated acts not only scare the villagers but also distract them from reason and logic causing mass hysteria. Mary Warren falls prey to hysteria and figuratively throws John Proctor under the bus instead of speaking the truth. Abigail with the other girls accused of witchcraft perform fake hallucinations and mind control to scare and bewilder others into believing witchcraft is truly being committed. The strange and sudden events of so many women being accused of witchcraft caused Salem as a whole to become enveloped in hysteria. In The Crucible, by…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    McCarthyism not only destroyed the lives and careers of many Americans but also the innocent image of the country. Senator Joe McCarthy from Wisconsin was the same as any man. But when he cried Communism the world seemed to listen.<br><br>Following the Cold War between Russia and the United States there came many hardships, such as unemployment and high inflation. These hardships produced a restless society. The society then looked for something or someone to blame (Fried, 39). They found someone to blame. Communists. Throughout the country there was a witch hunt known as the Red Scare. A basic idea was formed: Communism was evil. Anyone who participated in such evil was considered illegitimate and were to be excluded from such things as sharing ideas, and jobs (Reeves, 136). This fear of Communism or anti-Communism as it was called could be described as a type of "virus." When all was calm in America the virus would fade, but the moment a crisis struck, the virus came back stronger than ever (Feuerlicht, 35). Communism was a threat not only for countries overseas but a threat for America and its people. It was a threat on the American way of life, a bruise on the phrase "the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." (Feuerlicht, 45) And McCarthy helped spread this fear.<br><br>McCarthy and his ways challenged the Bill of Rights. "When free speech or due process are denied to any individual everyone's rights are jeopardized. Today's oppressors may become tomorrow's accursed group." (Feuerlicht, 154) And nothing is guaranteed more than the destruction of America when the freedoms promised by the Bill of Rights are denied (Feuerlicht, 154). McCarthy installed a fear in the people. But people feared tremendously the loss of their jobs. They feared that their political afflictions would reflect on their job status (Reeves, 99). By trying to keep America from becoming a Communist nation, McCarthy and his followers turned the country into an anti - Communist…

    • 1592 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays