The Crucible To The Red Scare Analysis

Between the early 1940s and the late 1950s, the United States of America was threatened by the rapid growth of communism in the USSR. Many Americans came to believe that Communist supporters had infiltrated the American borders and were beginning to take over. Among those believers was the Senator of Wisconsin, Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy gave a speech on communism in front of the Republican women’s group on February 7, 1950, in Wheeling, West Virginia. In this speech, McCarthy addressed that he had a government document listing over two hundred communists who were currently serving in the U.S. Government and military. This serious accusation thus launched the Red Scare in the United States. Arthur Miller alludes to this historical event in his
In a court testimony given by Eric A. Johnston to the House Committee on Un-American Activities on October 27, 1947, Johnston revealed that, “A damaging impression of Hollywood has spread all over the country as a result of last week’s hearings. You have a lot of sensational testimony about Hollywood. From some of it the public will get the idea that Hollywood is running over Communists and communism. I believe the impression which has gone out is the sort of scare-head which is grossly unfair to a great American industry. It must be a great satisfaction to the Communist leadership in this country to have people believe that Hollywood Communists are astronomical in number and almost irresistible in power”. Johnston explains that the talk of communism in Hollywood is exaggerated from the actual statistics and that there are a lot fewer communists supporters in Hollywood than there is thought to be. This exaggeration can be seen in The Crucible with all of the innocent victims that are accused and hanged. In the beginning stages of The Crucible, on page 170, Abigail points out that there is a rumor of witchcraft that has been spreading through the town, but no one is a suspect yet. Abigail worsens this rumor by crying out, “I danced for the devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand; I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!”, on page 189. The few accusations Abigail makes in this scene only fuel the rumor in the town and feed the fire for more and more accusations to be made by the other girls who were dancing in the woods. In both scenarios, the severity of the rumor grows rapidly and is no longer at a truthful