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EN213 Essay Test on Arthur Miller's play THE CRUCIBLE
Arthur Miller's hidden meaning behind the crucible
The influence of peer pressure
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Crucible Essay
“There is a misty plot afoot so subtle we should be criminal to cling to old respects and ancient friendships. I have seen too many frightful proofs in court - the Devil is alive in Salem, and we dare not quail to follow wherever the accusing finger points” (1304). The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller and published on January 22, 1953, takes place in a Puritan village in Massachusetts that is ruled by a theocracy. Many characters are accused of witchcraft and are put on trial to prove their innocence. John Proctor to be specific, the main character, is falsely hanged and is a tragic hero in The Crucible. On the same note, during the Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union were tight. The Red Scare was the time period when hysteria toward communists were present in the United States. The Crucible is an allegory for the Red Scare because fear was present in everyone, people were wrongly accused, and there were power-hungry people.
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The effect of fear on people can result in the brain reacting and responding slower than usual and is also affects memory.
During the trial Judge Hathorne and Danforth use force and fear on Mary Warren to confess to witchcraft. Mary claims they were only pretending to be effecting by witchcraft. She said, “It were only sport in the beginning, sir, but then the whole world cried spirits, spirits” (1331). As a result, her own fear of witchcraft made her believe that she was bewitched. America, a capitalist country would see communism as a threat because they did not believe in sharing everything equally. Joseph McCarthy is mainly known for his influence against communism during World War II. He convinced Americans that some people were pro-communist and supported the Soviet Union during the Cold War. America’s own fear of communism and witches led to the discrimination and harm to innocent
people. In The Crucible and the Red Scare innocent people were accused for no reason. Abigail Williams is stabbed and Mary is accused just because she made a doll that coincidentally had a needle in it. Proctor rips the warrant and says, “If she is innocent! Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God's fingers” (1307)? This quote is significant because it shows the biasness during the Salem Witch Trials. Just because the Devil cannot outcome a minister it is unfair for the minister who is the accuser in this case to be automatically sinless. Most communists in America were blacklisted and their lives were completely ruined. Furthermore, because some communists committed espionage Americans constantly feared if more information was getting leaked and blamed innocent people. Without actual physical proof, people should not be persecuted and assumed to be guilty. Power and money make people do anything to get their way. Reverend Parris is a greedy selfish person who only cares about himself and his high position in the town. In court Parris says, “My daughter tells me how she heard them speaking of shops last week, and tonight I discover my-my strongbox is broke into” (1346). Instead of worrying about the innocent girls wrongly accused Parris is more worried about his high rank in the town and his money. Additionally, senator Joseph McCarthy is another great example of a self-centered and egotistical man who would do anything for a powerful position in the government. He would repeatedly point out communists and to “maintain” the fear in the people by giving a solution to the problem. This practice known as McCarthyism maintained his powerful position in the government without considering anyone else he affected. Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is an allegory for the Red Scare in 1950’s America as demonstrated through the constant fear in everyone,
The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, focuses on the Salem witch trials and the extreme behavior that follows the trials. Miller shows how the dark desires and hidden agendas provokes such extreme behavior. The Crucible was written in a time when the anti-communist movement was strongly protested. During the Salem witch trials, a person was guilty until he proved himself
In “The Crucible”, the author, Arthur Miller, conveys what he believes Senator Joe McCarthy is doing during the Red Scare. The Salem Witch Trials were true events, while this play uses these trials and adds a fictional twist to show a point. Witchcraft was punishable by death during this time. Once names started flying in town it was like a chain reaction, people were accusing others of witchcraft because they were not fond of them or they had something they wanted. Some definitions state mass hysteria as contagious, the characters in this play deemed it true. In this play, innocent people were hung because some of the girls in town cried witch.
The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, was written during the early 1950s.It was the time of The rise of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s.All throughout history, accusations of witchcraft have been used as an excuse for the discrimination of people who cultures, traditions, race, and ideas were not easily accepted nor understood by the society even if it was untrue.In today’s society students are taught this because it show’s how important “The Crucible, and McCarthyism were and what changes they went through because of the human condition.It is extremely important and appropriate because it allows students the opportunity to respond in terms of their own experiences .The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism had many similarities. In The Crucible Abigail
20 were executed” (Blumberg). The Crucible setting is based on The Salem Witch trials, but the plot is based on The Red Scare. The author employs strict tone and rhetorical questions to convey power. This connects to the purpose of how a occurring can devastate a whole community and the people in it. Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible, employs empowerment by expressing the challenges within each character and their influence on the trial through the characters John Proctor, Abigail, and Danforth.
Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible, lived during the Red Scare, which was anti-Communist as the Salem witch trials were anti-witches. The whole book is a symbol of two events that happened in history. The Red Scare and McCarthyism both serve as symbols of the Salem witch trials, which makes it an allegory. Although the play is based off of the witch trials during seventeenth century New England, the author meant for it to address his concern for the Red Scare in an indirect way. For example, just like the witch trials accusing people of witchcraft, Americans during the Red Scare accused others of being pro-Communist. The same widespread paranoia occurred as a result.
In 1953, a book/play called The Crucible was published. It was written by Arthur Miller as an allegory of the McCarthyism era. It talks of the causes and effects of the Salem witch trials in the late 1600's. The story is told in a way that made the people of the 50's realize how crazy they were actually acting.
As once stated by Joseph R. McCarthy “I have here in my hand a list of two hundred and five people that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department” (Joseph). The red scare occurred in the 1950’s when United States senator Joseph McCarthy lied when accusing people for being communists. McCarthyism is the practice of making false accusation for the purpose of ruining the lives of innocent people. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, which takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 when the townspeople were accusing and being accused of witchcraft. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as a reference to the red scare because in 1692 and 1950’s, both societies were being watched closely, were restricted of certain opportunities, and in both there were false accusations. In The Crucible, Salem’s downfall was caused by theocracy because the church plays an enormous role in
In The Crucible, the mass hysteria surrounding the witch trials caused paranoia amongst the people of Salem. Miller uses the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 as a symbol and allegory of the fear surrounding the spread of communism during the 1950s in America. The community’s sense of justice was blinded by the mass hysteria and for some, a desire for vengeance and personal gain. The Putnams
From 1949 to 1954, the citizens of the United States were overcome with terror of the possibility of being accused of Communism. Joseph McCarthy was an anti-communist zealot obsessed with rooting out perceived Communist spies and activities in the United States. Common opinion showed that McCarthy was a bully and a liar. The Senate condemned him for it because at the time, there was no evidence to support him. However, in recent years, evidence has come out that confirms the basis of what McCarthy said.
Events have played out in history that made people realize the inhumane acts of people and the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy era were two of them. The Salem witch trials in 1692 were almost 260 years before the McCarthy “witch hunts” in the 1950s yet there are similarities between them. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in 1953, is about the Salem witch trials and is an allegory to the practicing of McCarthyism during the Second Red Scare in the United States, which Miller was a victim of. Although there may be differences between “The Crucible” and McCarthyism, ultimately the anger, lack of evidence, and the people were alike in both events.
Authors often have underlying reasons for giving their stories certain themes or settings. Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, The Crucible, is a work of art inspired by actual events as a response to political and moral issues. Set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible proves to have its roots in events of the 1950’s and 1960’s, such as the activities of the House Un-American Committee and the “Red Scare.” Though the play provides an accurate account of the Salem witch trials, its real achievement lies in the many important issues of Miller’s time that it dealswith.
The play “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller was written in response to McCarthyism in the 1950’s. In 1692 and 1693 the Salem witch trials took place in Salem Massachusetts. Girls believed to be involved in witchcraft were responsible for these trials. In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s senator McCarthy came to office. Senator McCarthy and some of his allies were responsible for hysteria in the United States of America in the 1950’s. The scare was also in result of a communist scare after World War II and leading to the cold war. The behavior of the people of the Salem witch trials and Americans in the 19050’s resulted in a big scare in reaction to hysteria.
You didn't tell him that!ABIGAIL: Betty, you never say that again! You will never— BETTY: You did, you did! You drank a charm to kill John Proctor's wife! You drank a charm to kill Goody Proctor!"(Miller 19). The women accused of being seen with the devil were supposedly witches, they were given unfair trials and if they confessed they would not be killed but if they would not confess they would be hung. John McCarthy accused people for being communism in the 1950's, the accusations came out to be false. After all of the accusations that McCarthy made communism became a national obsession. Many were blacklisted and lost their jobs, others who were accused of being communist were deported or sent to jail. The subject was so serious and damaging some committed suicide as a result. "I have here in my hand a list of 205-a list of names that were known to the secretary of state as being members of the Communist Party"(Price 1). McCarthy was accusing innocent people for being communist and it has left a lasting impact about how easy America could fall into a state of hysteria.
The Crucible is a 1953 play by Arthur Miller. Initially, it was known as The Chronicles of Sarah Good. The Crucible was set in the Puritan town of Salem, Massachusetts. It talks of McCarthyism that happened in the late 1600’s whereby the general public and people like Arthur Miller were tried and persecuted. The Crucible exemplifies persecutions during the Salem Witch Trials. The people were convicted and hung without any tangible proof of committing any crime. Persecutions were the order of the day. When a finger was pointed at any individual as a witch, the Deputy Governor Danforth never looked for evidence against them or evidence that incriminated them; he ordered them to be hanged. This can be seen through his words “Hang them high over the town! Who weeps for those, weeps for corruption!” (1273), the people were persecuted aimlessly. The four main characters in the play, John Proctor, Abigail Adams, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris, are caught in the middle of the witchcraft panic in the religious Salem, Massachusetts in late 1690’s. Persecution is the most important theme in the Crucible, the leaders and citizens of Salem attacks and persecutes one of their own without any tangible evidence against them.
The Crucible is a famous play written by Arthur Miller in the Early 1950’s. It was written during the “Red scare, when McCarthyism was established. Many anti-communists wanted to prevent communism from spreading just like in The Crucible many wanted to get rid of witchcraft. Many would accuse others of witchcraft in order to not be accused just like many would accuse people of communism. In The Crucible witchcraft would be punishable by death. Many were scared to be accused; therefore many would admit practicing witchcraft in order to save their lives. The Crucible is considered a good play because it is based on real life events during the Salem witch Trials and shows how fear played a role in the individual’s life just like during the “Red” scare.