How Does Arthur Miller Present Fear In The Crucible

As a kid, I was afraid of the hideous monsters that lay hiding under my bed. Although as I grew I realised that the monsters weren't under beds or hiding in dark closets, they were the strangers I walked past daily, the shooters, the bombers, the molesters. We live in a society today where kids can no longer ride their bikes too far and women can't walk around late at night without the fear of something terrible happening to them. We're taught from a young age to be afraid, to have fears and live our lives based on those fears.

Arthur Miller accurately portrays this state of mind in his famous play "The Crucible", represented by the witch trials that occurred in real life in 1692. Those ill-fated 20 people died because of the mass hysteria created within the small town of Salem. Consequently, the chaos created by this fear of witches drove innocent Puritans to turn into the monsters who they feared the most.

It cannot be denied that fear and paranoia held a huge portion of the classic emotions showcased

Terrorism, shootings, nuclear wars; this is what there is to be afraid of in modern society. Each day there is a new headline reporting of the horrendous occurrences that goes on around the world. The media plays this like a fiddle, taking control of this fear and producing it into what is called mass hysteria. The public uses this social media source as an outlet to voice their concerns and opinions and even crazy conspiracy theories. Which therefore lead to groupings and anarchy. Take for example the Cronulla Riots, this all occurred because of concerns for the Lebanese and a text message. Violence spread through the southern suburbs of Sydney, with 5,000 gathering to take part in the altercations that had developed. The fear that was created by another race coming into a country resulted in a widespread panic. This is the power that social media has over paranoia and modern