Similarities Between Mccarthyism And The Crucible
In the 1940s, America was hysterical over communism with McCarthyism everywhere. Author, Arthur Miller felt that the situation had many similarities to the Salem Witch Trials. In both the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism fear, hysteria, and danger were common. A type of evidence called “spectral evidence” was being used in both situations and Miller used his play, The Crucible, as an allegory for McCarthyism to tell one story with an even deeper meaning. McCarthyism and the Salem Witch trials relied on public hysteria and spectral evidence to influence people and control them.
An important similarity between the Salem Witch Trials and Sen. John McCarthy’s McCarthyism, was the consequences a person would face if they failed to admit to their