The Power Of Power In Arthur Miller's The Crucible

Although The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is set in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts during the seventeenth-century, its intention is to provide insight to the events occurring during Miller’s own time. In 1947, Alger Hiss, a State Department official, was accused of espionage, increasing the fears of the communist party among the public. Additionally, in 1949, the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb and China recently became a communist nation. Furthermore, Joseph Stalin controlled half of Europe, and the threat of an atomic war was ever-present. In 1950, three years before the play was first produced, Senator Joseph McCarthy launched a mass epidemic of hysteria throughout the country by publicly accusing 205 Department of State

This can be seen when Danforth, an overseer in the witchcraft trials, says, “‘the voice of heaven is speaking through the children’” (Miller 88). The court believes that the girls are being used as a vessel for God, and will help the community weed out the witches. Similarly, the nation listened to McCarthy’s words when he gave his speech about the threat of communists, and, for the most part, wholeheartedly accepted it. When McCarthy accused people, his reasoning did not have a solid foundation. In fact, Muhammad Awan states in his article, “From Witch-hunts and Communist-hunts to Terrorist-hunts: Placing Arthur Miller’s The Crucible in Post-September 11 Power Politics”, that the “names and the number of communists [on the accused list] kept changing”, showing his reasoning was merely speculation (Awan 3). This is like the spectral evidence that was used as proof to condemn a witch, both of which would be considered invalid in today’s courts due to the lack of

Hale is described as a specialist in witchcraft, and has had a similar case in the past (Miller 33). At first, he truly believed that he was doing the right thing. By probing Abigail and Tituba to confess, he hoped to save their souls and said that they are back on “Heaven’s side” (Miller 46). This parallels the leaders in the 1950’s witch-hunt who believed that they were helping the nation by interrogating the accused. In Henry Popkin’s literary criticism, “The Historical Background of The Crucible”, the House Committee to Investigate Un-American Activities asked its detainees: “‘Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?’” (138). This is very similar to when Hale was interrogating the girls and asked: “‘Did you call the Devil last night’” (Miller 42). Through this, Miller shows that the Communist Party was the 1950’s equivalent of “the Devil”; furthermore, it is interesting to note that the basis of the question remains the same, only the evil was changed. Even after a couple hundred years, history is still repeating itself. Then later, Hale is shown to have a change of heart and realizes that he “‘signed seventy-two death warrants’” and no long cares to “‘take a life without … proof so immaculate no slightest qualm of conscience may doubt it’” (Miller 99). Subsequently, he quits the court and supports Proctors