Fear Dbq Essay

Fear. A simple four-lettered word that describes a powerful emotion that takes over and changes us in an instant. When I was younger, I remember that the consequences of being disciplined frightened me so much that I would do anything in my power to stay out of trouble; as I heard my parents yell out my name while I was conscious that did something wrong, I would lie about the events so my parents would be as merciful as possible. Certainly, this situation has occurred to numerous children across the world. Furthermore, the fear inflicted over me as a child led me to abandon my moral judgement in order to escape harsh punishment. However, what happens when human beings use this fear is used as a way to control others? Throughout history, “fear

has been used as a tool to manipulate others, and [...] those in positions of power [...] have effectively used fear to control certain aspects of society” (Source A).
According to Seneca in Letters by a Stoic, “There are more things… likely to frighten us than there are to crush us; we suffer more often in imagination than in reality,” so human beings are frequently faced with foreboding that hinders them from sustaining to their principles; meanwhile, they do not comprehend that none of these fears contain actual power over them, yet they continue to allow them in their daily life (Source A).

As a matter of fact, people have always had an “inert fear of death” that causes them great displeasure and uneasiness (Source B). As a result, human beings strive to maintain themselves out of threatening situations in order to achieve longevity. This fact has been recognized for centuries, thus, figures in positions of power have used it to manipulate society and exclude certain groups of people due to their differences. For instance, the Puritans during the Salem witch trials, and politicians during the Red Scare are a couple of the groups of people that have imposed fear over others to achieve a certain

purpose.
In accordance with Bertrand Russell, “Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty," and this were the horrific circumstances surrounding a small village in the state of Massachusetts. Back in 1692, Salem Village was brimming with superstitious beliefs, suspicions, rumours and convictions concerning witchcraft, “familiar spirits,” and deals with the Devil that would affect the Puritan community. It is believed that, this event was a “Result of a combination of church politics, family feuds, and hysterical children, all of which unfolded in a vacuum of political authority,” (Source D). Beginning with three young girls that accused and provoked the arrest of “Three Witches”, acts of witchcraft began to surge in the town and dozens of trials came in the following years. Correspondingly, the major predicament was the massive hysteria in the village that came from a lack of formal court proceedings. As stated in the Encyclopedia Britannica, those who confessed received God’s retribution and accepted the tarnish on their names, while those who asserted their innocence “met harsher fates, becoming martyrs to their own sense of justice,” and others were too afraid of being accused that they remained silent while observing the dreadful events occuring in the village. Therefore, fear of death was the steering wheel for each individual living in Salem at the time. Although it might seem insignificant in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of people tried and executed across Europe, the Salem witch hunt induced a hundred fifty accusations, nineteen hangings and five deaths under custody. Nonetheless, the long term consequences and legacy of the Salem witch trials included the adjustments in the United States court procedures that “guarantee[d] of the right to legal representation, the right to cross-examine one’s accuser, and the presumption of innocence rather than of guilt,” (Source D).
Similarly, a new and unique witch hunt surged in the United States government as a result of anti-communist hysteria that devastated thousands of lives.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the Red Scare led to the creation of the House Un-American Activities Committee, or HUAC, that was dedicated to investigate the unpatriotic behavior in people and used as a method “of blocking progressive politics,” (Source C). The first major event was when the HUAC accused, interviewed and took into custody the Hollywood Ten of the Hollywood Motion Picture Industry of holding left-wing views. Subsequently, the terror of going to prison caused Larry Parks to admit that he had joined the Communist Party and was forced to name other members, although he had initially refused to do so. In a like manner, in The Crucible, Parris tells Tituba, “You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death, Tituba!'' leaving her with the only option to confess to seeing the Devil and agree to reveal other witches in the village. Afterwards, Joseph McCarthy accused hundreds of people from diverse departments of the federal government, mainly due to their views and past as “fascists, alcoholics, and sexual deviants,” (Source C). Moreover, the immense scare of being blacklisted, losing careers, or getting incarcerated brought extensive political oppression to the United States of America and silenced those who opposed

it.
Since the reality about the immense power of fear is more clear than ever, it is up to the future generations of individuals, not only those in higher positions in the communities, to determine how and to what extent will the use of fear to control our society be allowed.