The Crucible by Arthur Miller: Analysis of the Play
The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play based on the actual event that in 1692, led to the salem witch trials. It is a series of hearing before local magistrates to prosecute over 150 people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693.The play was written in the early 1950s as a response to McCarthyism when the US government blacklisted accused communist. Miller himself was to questioned by the House of Representatives’ committee on un american activities in 1956 and convicted of “contempt of congress” for failing to identify others present at meeting he had attended.The Red Scare and The Crucible are similar as they both reflect mass hysteria.The Red Scare reflected the hunt for communist hunt while The Crucible reflected on the hunt for witchcraft.
A person will do crazy things when put in a crazy environment. People get scared, they do things they wouldn’t do normally if they had time to think. But they don’t have time to think, because fingers are pointed at them, and the only way to save themselves is to point another finger. There is evidence for that exact behavior in America during both the 1600s and the 1900s, during the witch trials and the rise of communism respectively. No book better compares the two time periods and analyzes the psychology of the people at the times than The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. Miller, who lived during the 1950s and the Red Scare, had both knowledge and personal experience to compile into a book about fear.
The Crucible analyzes a mostly Christian society of Salem, Oregon of America during the 1600s, and describes the manifestation of chaos in the small town as more and more fingers are pointed at suspected witches. One of the very first to point a finger is Abigail. She, the mother and controller of the fear created, pointed fingers first to save her life, but then for her own personal gain. She mentioned Tituba, who was confronted, and in turn started spewing out lies about the
A person will do crazy things when put in a crazy environment. People get scared, they do things they wouldn’t do normally if they had time to think. But they don’t have time to think, because fingers are pointed at them, and the only way to save themselves is to point another finger. There is evidence for that exact behavior in America during both the 1600s and the 1900s, during the witch trials and the rise of communism respectively. No book better compares the two time periods and analyzes the psychology of the people at the times than The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. Miller, who lived during the 1950s and the Red Scare, had both knowledge and personal experience to compile into a book about fear.
The Crucible analyzes a mostly Christian society of Salem, Oregon of America during the 1600s, and describes the manifestation of chaos in the small town as more and more fingers are pointed at suspected witches. One of the very first to point a finger is Abigail. She, the mother and controller of the fear created, pointed fingers first to save her life, but then for her own personal gain. She mentioned Tituba, who was confronted, and in turn started spewing out lies about the