Examples Of Allegory In The Crucible

In literature alone, there are many stories that have been categorized as allegories due to messages or lessons that are implied in the writing. By definition, an allegory is a something that has a hidden or symbolic meaning. Of course they are not just limited to stories; allegories can also be expressed in the form of a poem, a picture, or a movie. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, is a good example of an allegory for it tells of a significant event in history in which a small town of Massachusetts named Salem had been controlled by a paranoia of witches after watching a few of the town girls showing off odd behaviors and participating in occult activities. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is an allegory for Subversive Activities Control Board, The State Department Loyalty Security Board, and Senator Margaret
Chase Smith. The Subversive Activities Control Board was created under the Mccarran Act, or Internal Security Act, and was lead by Harry P.
Cain, a friend of Joe McCarthy and the Senator of Washington State, in 1950. It was created to investigate people that were suspected to be Communist or were supporters of Communists, and groups that supported Communism. Under the Internal Security Act, it gave the Subversive Activities Control Board to deport immigrants that have been suspected for “un-American” acts and allowed them to keep citizens from travelling out of the country. Just being called in by the Subversive Activities Control Board was enough to ruin a person’s reputation, regardless if they were innocent or guilty of the accusations. In The Crucible, the girls who were claiming to be bewitched joined with the court, helping them pick out people who were suspected of witchcraft. People who were accused of being witches would be either hanged or put in jail if they would not confess. The ones who would admit to doing witchcraft and repent would have lost their reputation in the community, but they would be let go. The similarities don’t stop there
though. The fear of Communism terrorized those working in the Truman administration, so in order to relieve their fears, President Truman organized a loyalty program in 1947. Every department had a Loyalty Security Board in order to be able to check every employee that worked in a federal position that they were loyal to their nation and would not commit treason or become a threat to the nation. During the Salem witch trials, members of the court had to be loyal to the court, or else they would be considered against the court. In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, during the third act, Giles Corey refuses to give the name of the man who had informed him of Thomas Putnam’s plan to have his daughter accuse their neighbor of witchcraft in order to buy his neighbor’s land once he was killed. Because of this, Giles Corey is threatened with arrest for contempt of the court for not doing as the court says. He was viewed as a threat to the court because of his refusal. In both situations, any doubt of the court or of the Nation would become a quick offense and could affect a person’s reputation.