The Crucible and McCarthyism Arthur Miller lived through the Red Scare‚ also known as McCarthyism. After living through this era and being one of the accused communists Miller wrote the book titled The Crucible in 1952. This book told the story of the Salem witch trials with some modifications to make it more relevant to the current situation. The book ultimately became an allegory devoted solely to McCarthyism. In The Crucible uses situations such as the actual trials‚ direct comparisons from
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Vivien Fletcher Mrs. Wagoner English 11 Block 2 3 October 2012 Fear Makes People Crazy Fear can cause people to overreact and lose all rational thinking. The evidence for this statement is found in the Salem witch trials and McCarthyism. The 1692‚ Abigail Williams and a group of girls turned the town of Salem upside down in a fear driven witch hunt. The girls accused innocent people of being witches in order to avoid getting in trouble for dancing in the woods. Fear of being accused of witchery
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The Salem Witch Trials took place in 1692‚ the seventeenth century and McCarthyism took place in 1948 between 1956‚ the mid twentieth century. These two proceedings are known as two of the greatest mass tragedies in America. The Crucible is an allegory of McCarthyism or in other words the second Red Scare. During McCarthyism the United States was petrified of Communists influence. Many people in both the Crucible and McCarthyism who feared the court provided names of suspects in an attempt to save
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who believe in Communist teachings are corrupt. In 1950‚ a historical event happened in the US timeline; the Red Scare. Joe McCarthy became a Senator for the state of Wisconsin in 1947. The Red Scare happened from 1947-1957‚ “The Cold War‚ which began after the end of World War II‚ was a period where Americans were extremely paranoid about the threat of Communism.” (“Background to the Red Scare” Par. 1) The Cold War was a period of time where citizens of the United States feared nuclear warfare with
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Modern Day Witch hunt The First Red Scare began after the Bolshevik Russian Revolution of 1917 and during the First World War (1914–18). Anarchist and left-wing political violence and social agitation aggravated extant national social and political tensions. Historian L.B. Murray reports that the “Red Scare” was “a nation-wide anti-radical hysteria provoked by a mounting fear and anxiety that a Bolshevik revolution in America was imminent — a revolution that would destroy [private] property‚ Church
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innocent people have been accused and persecuted for things they haven’t done. During certain situations and times‚ people were used as escape goats. The people accused‚ usually ended up with the “bad end of the stick”. The Salem Witch Trials‚ The Red Scare‚ and Pearl Harbor are all events in history when people were profiled and treated unfairly‚ and we can learn from these events. During the Salem Witch Trials‚ many people were profiled and treated and unfairly. In the town of Salem‚ the Reverend
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Anti-Communism and McCarthyism America has both seen and had to face many obstacles which include several wars and a Great Depression. During those times America had many challenges to face‚ many of which almost led to the destruction of the foundation of the country. The most memorable is the Red Scare which is a result of anti-communism and McCarthyism. This paper describes the differences between anti-communism and McCarthyism. Next‚ the perspective from which the media covered the issue is
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The American Heritage Dictionary defines McCarthyism as “The political practise of publicizing accusations of disloyalty or subversion with insignificant regard to evidence.” Arthur Millers ‘The Crucible’ is an extended metaphor representing the parallels between the Salem witch-hunts and accusations of communism during the McCarthyism era. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible in response to the unwarranted persecution of many Americans‚ who were accused of communist ties or associating with Communist
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Following the war during the Reconstruction Era‚ radical discrimination of African Americans largely ensued‚ and the weak Southern economy with massive crop destruction influentially affected the lives of the tenant farmers negatively (91). In the novel Red Badge of Courage‚ Stephen Crane not only depicted war as a dehumanizing force that physically and mentally influenced the soldiers to act non-emotionally and fearfully but also painted a realistic‚ gory mosaic of bloody carcasses.
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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
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