Mccarthyism In The Crucible

Crucible
Repeated efforts to clean a society in times of distress and fear has occurred many times in history. One being the Salem witch trials as depicted by Arthur Miller in The Crucible. Ultimately, Arthur Miller's purpose in writing The Crucible was to warn about the threat of McCarthyism to the U.S. stressing points such as paranoia arising from a small fact, trauma caused by a depression, and an unjust legal system.
One of the major arguments was based off such large beliefs coming from such a small fact. Miller states that, "McCarthy's power to stir fears of creeping Communism was not entirely based on illusion, of course; the paranoid, real or pretended, always secretes its pearl around a grain of fact. From being our wartime ally, the Soviet Union rapidly became a expanding empire." (Why I Wrote the Crucible, 1). This shows how the outrageous claims and accusations being made all come from at least one idea however small. In the 1950's that fact

was the spread of communism and the fact that the Soviet Union was gaining power and control over land. In The Crucible that small fact was the Bible as Miller writes, "Of course, there were no Communists in 1692, but it was literally worth your life to deny witches or their powers, given the exhortation in the Bible, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." There had to be witches in the world or the Bible lied" (Why I Wrote the Crucible, 3). Both of these examples were so powerful because the societies were so vulnerable to them. The puritans who were in great fear of anything since they were very new to the land tried to solve any problem and expected the worst, in an effort to try create their perfect society and follow exactly what the Bible teaches they needed to get rid of these "witches." During the time of the Red Scare the fact of communism was very evident and the major problem of the U.S. and therefore it filled the minds of most U.S. citizens, who were eager to rid their country of the biggest threat it faced to the freedoms and liberties they fought for.
Another large cause of this writing was as a result of depression era trauma. Miller writes in his essay, "The Crucible was an act of desperation. Much of my desperation branched out, I suppose, from a typical Depression -- era trauma -- the blow struck on the mind by the rise of European Fascism and the brutal anti-Semitism it had brought to power."(Why I Wrote the Crucible, 2). Both those in the 1950's and 1600's were faced with severe depression and trauma, which further increased the ignorance and blind decision making that they made. In Salem everyone was in fear that their society and perfect puritan lifestyle they were trying to create would be destroyed and ruined like it had in the Europe that they tried to escape from. This fear led them to make quick accusations and make it hard for them to take anything back, as taking something back just created a greater chance of destruction and disorder to their lifestyle. Throughout the Cold War there was a great fear and depression caused by the constant threat of a large scale thermo nuclear war, that could very easily destroy the world and human race as we know it. This fear is the same thing that led Americans to make such quick decisions deciding on who is a communist and who is a threat to national security.
One final major connection is the continuation of the unjust legal system. Miller shows the corruption of the Salem court system when he writes that,
"At a certain point, the high court of the province made the fatal decision to admit, for the first time, the use of "spectral evidence" as proof of guilt. Spectral evidence, so aptly named, meant that if I swore that you had sent out your "familiar spirit" to choke, tickle, poison me or my cattle, or to control thoughts and actions, I could get you hanged unless you confessed to having had contact with the Devil." (Why I Wrote the Crucible, 4).
This shows that, at a certain point, those in the Crucible were taking anything as evidence and were even desperate to accuse those guilty of witchcraft.

This is also apparent during the age of McCarthyism as Miller writes, "Indeed, the State Department proceeded to hound and fire the officers who knew China, its language, and its opaque culture" (Why I Wrote the Crucible, 2). Those in the U.S. government were very similar to those in power in The Crucible as they both questioned people very severely who had any connection to this crime and were seen as any kind of threat to the system they had worked so hard to create and maintain. Both of these examples display how fear and small facts can lead to a corruption not only of the people but a sever corruption of the powerful, and the legal system. As a result the legal system can make accusations and have no contest as any one who tries to deny the court or the system is only seen as an enemy of the state and worthy of the same punishment as those being

accused.
Overall Arthur Miller shows in his writings, that this fear and depression that we face now and have faced before in time, can lead us to make outrageous and unjustified attacks and claims on innocent people and citizens. Through his words he warns that perhaps the greatest danger to civilization and our well being as humans is not an external enemy or threat, but instead the threat of our own minds and our own ignorance being turned against us. And the only way to protect ourselves it to remain calm and rationale in the face of danger and work together as one people with a common goal and motive, to help and benefit the well being of mankind as a whole.