Mccarthyism In The Crucible
The world at the present is always the inspiration of a work. This idea is manifested in The Crucible by Arthur Miller. He incorporates the political drama of the era into the play about the Salem Witch Trials. Therefore, The Crucible is a mirror image of the McCarthyism that occurred during the 1950s. This fact is reflected through the various connections in characters, themes.
First, there are characters in the play which represent the actual people involved and affected by the McCarthy era. One such character is Abigail Williams, who represents Joseph McCarthy. She lies, manipulates her friends and the entire town, and accuses innocent people which leads to their deaths. The vindictive trait is present in McCarthy, who distorts evidence to "sacrifice the greater objective for the momentary effect" (184). Second, another character used to symbolize was Rebecca Nurse, who represented Lillian Hellman. Rebecca is a woman with upholding morals, which is evident when she refuses to confess the names of other …show more content…
"witches." She does not others to get caught in the web of lies just to save her. The same thought is existent in Lillian because she does not want to hurt the ones she knows just to save herself. She felt that it was "inhuman and indecent and dishonorable" (183). Therefore, due to the parallels occurring between characters, The Crucible is the reflection of McCarthyism.
Second, hysteria is a common theme that is shared in both the play and in McCarthyism.
McCarthy spread messages of anti- Communism which proved as the spark that propelled the United States into an anti- Communist fervor. He led investigations where people were encouraged to confess the names of Communist sympathizers to escape punishment. This resulted in a spree of accusations. The same hysteria occurred in Salem, as the colonists were either the accusers or the accused. In addition, there was a narrow-mindedness, excessive zeal and disregard for the individuals that characterize the government's effort to stamp out a perceived social ill. In The Crucible, Danforth and the government tried to eliminate the threat from Satan and the witches which was considered the social ill at that time. During the McCarthy era, the social illness was Communism. As a result of the common themes shared between McCarthyism and the play, it is evident that both are
parallels.
Lastly, due to the various commonalities found in characters and themes, it is certain that The Crucible and McCarthyism are mirror images. Arthur Miller wrote the play as a metaphor for the anti- Communist hysteria that took place in the United States during the 1950s. The same situation occurred in Salem, Massachusetts where girls like Abigail Williams caused hysteria through accusations of witchcraft. However, the main reason Miller wrote the play was to stop history's mistake from occurring once again. As Mark M. Krug once said, "History attempts to provide society with an artificial collective memory." It is our choice to look it up.
First, there are characters in the play which represent the actual people involved and affected by the McCarthy era. One such character is Abigail Williams, who represents Joseph McCarthy. She lies, manipulates her friends and the entire town, and accuses innocent people which leads to their deaths. The vindictive trait is present in McCarthy, who distorts evidence to "sacrifice the greater objective for the momentary effect" (184). Second, another character used to symbolize was Rebecca Nurse, who represented Lillian Hellman. Rebecca is a woman with upholding morals, which is evident when she refuses to confess the names of other …show more content…
"witches." She does not others to get caught in the web of lies just to save her. The same thought is existent in Lillian because she does not want to hurt the ones she knows just to save herself. She felt that it was "inhuman and indecent and dishonorable" (183). Therefore, due to the parallels occurring between characters, The Crucible is the reflection of McCarthyism.
Second, hysteria is a common theme that is shared in both the play and in McCarthyism.
McCarthy spread messages of anti- Communism which proved as the spark that propelled the United States into an anti- Communist fervor. He led investigations where people were encouraged to confess the names of Communist sympathizers to escape punishment. This resulted in a spree of accusations. The same hysteria occurred in Salem, as the colonists were either the accusers or the accused. In addition, there was a narrow-mindedness, excessive zeal and disregard for the individuals that characterize the government's effort to stamp out a perceived social ill. In The Crucible, Danforth and the government tried to eliminate the threat from Satan and the witches which was considered the social ill at that time. During the McCarthy era, the social illness was Communism. As a result of the common themes shared between McCarthyism and the play, it is evident that both are
parallels.
Lastly, due to the various commonalities found in characters and themes, it is certain that The Crucible and McCarthyism are mirror images. Arthur Miller wrote the play as a metaphor for the anti- Communist hysteria that took place in the United States during the 1950s. The same situation occurred in Salem, Massachusetts where girls like Abigail Williams caused hysteria through accusations of witchcraft. However, the main reason Miller wrote the play was to stop history's mistake from occurring once again. As Mark M. Krug once said, "History attempts to provide society with an artificial collective memory." It is our choice to look it up.