Mass Hysteria In The Crucible

Modern society continuously repeats the mistakes of the past; easily stereotyping a group using the false claims of a crowd of people, who keep intending to inflict pain that will forever be remembered due to the scars that remains.  The rotten core that causes the discrimination of a race or the ethnicity of people is mass hysteria. A small group of people will spread their fears and hatred, then soon it will escalate into a wildfire causing mass hysteria. According to history, in the past, mass of people hunted down witches, currently, referring to “Wrongfully Suspected” today the mass of people hunt down Muslims due to the actions of one radical group. As suggested by “Still Puritans After All These Years,” perhaps Puritanism still exists

today, causing the unnecessary prejudice against the ethnic and racial minorities.

Arthur Miller created an allegorical play, The Crucible, which he intended to related to then the anticommunist sentiments during the 1950s, however it also reflects the status of modern society.
1950s, the era of the Red Scare, Joseph McCarthy, the one man who started the chaos. McCarthy accused hundreds of being Communist sympathizers, those of the entertainment industry were especially targeted. Despite the lack of evidence the accused victims were jailed, had their passports seized, and were blacklisted, which led to the end of their promising careers. The words of one man escalated the fear of the whole entire mass of people. The Crucible demonstrates the idiocy of the Red Scare, false accusations that ruined the lives of hundreds, just like the Salem Witch Trials. Young, powerless girls like Abigail Williams were accused of witchcraft, however soon the tables are turned, with her words, it could cause the mass of the people

to turn against you. The powerless could easily become the most powerful, the girls become the leaders of the mass in Salem. The villagers fear the witches, thus those associated with witchcraft must be eradicated by death or confess to their sins, which many committed to. The man Abigail desired, John Proctor feared nothing, he boldly defied the mass by declaring, “God is dead,” the man was sick of the nonsense. Unfortunately due to his rejection, Proctor was arrested and sentenced to death, yet he did not tremble in fear, Proctor stood true to his belief until the end. In reality a martyr that defies the mass is rare. Many fear to be judged by their people, such as Parris who continuously was concerned about his power and wealth or there are people who attempt to stand up for what is right, but gives into the pressure of the mass like Mary Warren. Mass hysteria can start out as a small grudge, just like between Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail William, but before one knows it they have let the fire gone out of control.
Letting mass hysteria cause consequences that could not be undone just proves that society has not changed much from the past. Written by Matthew Hutson, "Still Puritans After All These Years" is an article that provides evidence that society has not differed much from the past. Performing experiments on British and American student it was determined that American students judged promiscuous women more harshly, in addition those who scored high on a Protestant Ethic Scale displayed prejudice against racial minorities and poor. The Puritan tradition still runs in modern society, thus mass hysteria still occurs today. A curse in the American blood, if the Puritan tradition cease to exist, perhaps mass hysteria will diminish one day too.
One could object and believe that Puritan tradition is a value to American history, if it would cease to exist, a large part of culture would be lost. Puritanism is a strong influential tradition, that today, one may not even be aware of how that tradition affect their lives. Despite the prejudice that occurs, it is based on facts. "Kill a thousand innocent, than spare one enemy," one only creates prejudice to keep themselves safe from society.
The same in the past, today the mass of people still target one group.

An article, "Wrongfully Suspected" by Rosalyn Schroeder, confirms the racial fears that occurs today. Just one radical group, ISIS, causes the fear of the whole Muslim race, which is defined as Islamophobia.The term "terrorism" became frequently associated with the Muslims in a negative way. The actions of one group does not represent the whole ethnic group, yet the mass ranks the innocent the same as the radicals. Young Islamic men constantly feared for their lives for anyone who might attempt to seek justice in their own way. The government even enforced a law, Stop-and-Frisk Law where if anyone deemed suspicious visually, the police could search without a warrant, however men of the Latino and black race were searched more often than any other. Especially after the World Trade Center tragedy, people of Islamic religion were targeted for search constantly. Why does no one stand up for the Islamic people? Simple, if one dares to defy the mass, then they will be targeted. History will continue to repeat itself as long the mass is involved. Without an attempt to judge the innocent community as a whole, rather by a few extremist, as humans all who involve themselves with the modern witch hunt for a false, fictional motive should be all be deemed

guilty.
Another repeated incident occurred to the Japanese after World War II. The Pearl Harbor attack caused the death of many Americans, thus the mass of citizens were angered. Suspicions arose against the Japanese-Americans as many believed they were spies for the Japanese government. Just after issuing the Executive Order 9066, the people of Japanese ancestry were incarcerated. Most of the population that were imprisoned were citizens or legal permanent citizens of the United States, innocent people who were feared due to their ancestry. No evidence proved that they were affiliated were the Pearl Harbor attack, yet they became the criminals who lost their freedom. Many died in the internment camps or received a trauma from their time in the camps that could never be undone. It was not until 50 years later did the victims receive reparations and an apology. The American mass committed a sin against the Japanese-Americans, despite the reparation and apology, it could not reverse the trauma and pain inflicted upon the innocent.
Past, present, and future, mass hysteria will haunt society. Discrimination will not disappear and groups of people will continuously be ostracized. Hunting for false justice, then providing great “irrefutable evidence”, stimulates the growth of the mass. If just one being stood up and shed a light of the one and only one truth, such atrocity could be prevented from occurring. One could have an opinion differing from the mass, but if the don't stand up to their beliefs, that current status of modern society will never change.