Mass Hysteria In The Crucible By Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" was an allegory to the well-known mass hysteria, the Red Scare. Many mass hysterias have occurred before and after the Red Scare like Y2K, War of the Worlds, and Muslims in the U.S.
In "The Crucible" accusations of witchcraft worried townspeople and made them panic, much like Y2K. Many experst had claimed in 1999 that the world would end in the year 2000. The reasoning behind this absurd accusation was that the Mayan calender had stopped at the 2000th year. Many people panicked and sold their properties in order to "enjoy" their last days on Earth. This relates to the Salem Witch Trials where there were a plethora of accusations of witchcraft. People went crazy and began to worry. One major reason that the Salem
Witch Trials occurred was because people accused of witchcraft were executed. This helped greedy farmers since all a farmer needed to do in order to get free property was to accuse a neighboring landowner of witchcraft and have them executed. The accuser would, then, have to claim the new land and they would have expanded their property for te cost of one life. People lived their lives in fear, hoping that they would not be accused of witchcraft just like the people during Y2K had hoped the world would not end.
One mass hysteria that occurred in the 21st century was the assumption that the majority of Muslims were terrorists. Prison camps in Iraq had imprisoned innocent people because they were Muslim or looked Muslim and they seemed like a threat. Like many ofthe prisoners, the people accused of witchcraft were innocent. The Muslims were brutally beaten and sexually abused. Although the people accused lf witchcraft were not beaten like the Iraqi prisoners, they were both punished due to faulty accusations.
In both Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" and modern-day mass hysterias, innocent people are punished because of accusations, whether it is economic punishment or physical punishment.
In "The Crucible" accusations of witchcraft worried townspeople and made them panic, much like Y2K. Many experst had claimed in 1999 that the world would end in the year 2000. The reasoning behind this absurd accusation was that the Mayan calender had stopped at the 2000th year. Many people panicked and sold their properties in order to "enjoy" their last days on Earth. This relates to the Salem Witch Trials where there were a plethora of accusations of witchcraft. People went crazy and began to worry. One major reason that the Salem
Witch Trials occurred was because people accused of witchcraft were executed. This helped greedy farmers since all a farmer needed to do in order to get free property was to accuse a neighboring landowner of witchcraft and have them executed. The accuser would, then, have to claim the new land and they would have expanded their property for te cost of one life. People lived their lives in fear, hoping that they would not be accused of witchcraft just like the people during Y2K had hoped the world would not end.
One mass hysteria that occurred in the 21st century was the assumption that the majority of Muslims were terrorists. Prison camps in Iraq had imprisoned innocent people because they were Muslim or looked Muslim and they seemed like a threat. Like many ofthe prisoners, the people accused of witchcraft were innocent. The Muslims were brutally beaten and sexually abused. Although the people accused lf witchcraft were not beaten like the Iraqi prisoners, they were both punished due to faulty accusations.
In both Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" and modern-day mass hysterias, innocent people are punished because of accusations, whether it is economic punishment or physical punishment.