Examples Of Corrupt Government In The Crucible

The Crucibles; Corrupt Government

History has its way of repeating itself, regardless of the aftermath that occurs after each similar tragedy. Yet, the traumatic happenings keep coming up. Throughout the years, our ancestors have always managed to find different schemes in which all lead to the same outcome. Multiple historic tragedies are due to the same thing: blindly following leaders. For the duration of history, there have been multiple internationally known afflictions known for the after effects: the Salem Witch Trials, which caused many innocent people (and a dog) to be sentenced to death: McCarthyism and the Red Scare, although it didn’t send innocent people (or dogs) to death, the similarities are scarily similar: and the notorious Holocaust, which nearly wiped out an entire race of people. All of these, due to everyday people following those who are trusted, without foreseeing any of the consequences after the fact.

The Crucible proves this theme. The amount of hypocrisy was almost as wretched as preying on the defenseless. Likewise, it was a frequent occurrence. “[Abigail] danced for the Devil… I go back to Jesus, I kiss his hand…”

(Miller, 54). Abigail Williams was known as the savior of the town of Salem for “conjuring” all of these witches. she told many pretenses in order to attempt to remove Elizabeth so she could have John Proctor to herself. Once Abigail was unofficially pronounced the savior of the town of Salem, everyone began blindly following her. In the end, it is clear that society as a whole became blinded by the paranoia and fear so much, that not only citizens, but also authority figures began blindly following the lead of a vengeful teenaged girl.

Just like the Salem Witch Trials, the McCarthy trials have an abundance of proof to show why anybody should think twice about who they are following, and why. Joseph P. McCarthy was the senator of Wisconsin just after the Cold War. And, due to the United State’s alliance with Russia (a Communist country), terror spread all over the U.S.. Unfortunately, McCarthy developed McCarthyism, and everybody else was ignorant enough to follow him. He began accusing famous persons from Hollywood of Communism. Due to their liberality, most folks believed his lies. “No one man can terrorize a whole nation unless we are all his accomplices.” (Murrow). Edward Murrow mentioned how everyone else assisted in the Red- Scare. Which is true; had nobody followed his lies in the first place, the terrorization would have never happened. These people would be blacklisted for crimes that didn’t exist, and they they did not commit. Most followed McCarthy so as they wouldn’t become accused; causing many people to believe everything that was being said about who was a Communist and who asn’t. It wasn’t until when the insinuations got out of hand that people realized the Senator was in the wrong: and so were they.

Lastly, the Holocaust is known world-wide for the tortuous acts made upon Jews, gays, gypsies, etc.

that occurred under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. However, he wasn’t by far the only one in the wrong. Germans all over the country had followed him as well. Which, it started small, outcasting these people, boycotting their businesses, and wrongfully making intimations about their culture, how they acted, and who they were. All three of these historical events are veritably similar. “Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.” (Levi) Primo Levi also talks of how blind Hitler’s followers were. The lack of individual thinking caused thousands of innocent people to be abused, and

killed.

In conclusion, following what others do, simply because they have a title of authority, does not make their actions right to be done. Too many times, people have lost lives, been isolated and condemned from society, or even begin going in the wrong directions themselves, all due to the lack of people thinking for themselves. For the duration of history, there have been multiple internationally known afflictions known for the after effects: the Salem Witch Trials, which caused many innocent people (and a dog) to be sentenced to death: McCarthyism and the Red Scare, although it didn’t send innocent people (or dogs) to death, the similarities are scarily similar: and the notorious Holocaust, which nearly wiped out an entire race of people. All of these, due to everyday people following those who are trusted, without foreseeing any of the consequences after the fact. And all of these tragic happenings just help to prove that.

Works Cited

Arthur Miller. The Crucible, 1950. Lodi, NJ. Everbind Anthologies. (Print).
54.
"Quotes About Holocaust" www.goodreads.com, Goodreads, 2016. Web. March 16, 2016.

"Quotes About McCarthyism" www.goodreads.com, Goodreads,2016. Web. March 16, 2016.