Mccarthy trial the crucible

As communist hysteria built, Miller was even more convinced that he wanted to write a play based on this form of collective insanity. He was especially fascinated by people who disagreed with the communist "witch hunt" but chose to keep their heads down and go along with it to avoid their own persecution.

He writes, "But by , when I began to think of writing about the hunt for Reds in America, I was motivated in some great part by the paralysis that had set in among many liberals who, despite their discomfort with the inquisitors' violations of civil rights, were fearful, and with good reason, of being identified as covert Communists if they should protest too strongly.

For example, John Proctor hesitates to expose Abigail as a fraud because he fears repercussions from the court, and Parris is eager to turn on others to preserve his reputation. In another relevant quote, Miller writes, "The Soviet plot was the hub of a great wheel of causation ; the plot justified the crushing of all nuance, all the shadings that a realistic judgment of reality requires.

Danforth claims that there is "a moving plot to topple Christ in the country! Danforth also insists that "a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between" pg. Nuance cannot be tolerated because the people in charge feel that the stakes are too high. Miller, however, says he viewed the analogy as perfectly sound.

He argues that, in the 17th century, "the existence of witches was never questioned by the loftiest minds in Europe and America" because the Bible spoke of their existence. Witches were just as real to people in the s as communists were to people in the s. He adds, "The more I read into the Salem panic, the more it touched off corresponding ages of common experiences in the fifties : the old friend of a blacklisted person crossing the street to avoid being seen talking to him; the overnight conversions of former leftists into born-again patriots; and so on.

Apparently, certain processes are universal. The Crucible has resonated across time because it expresses central truths about human nature. People will go to great lengths to avoid being ostracized by society, including, in many cases, betraying their true beliefs and selling out their friends. If patriotism is taken too far, it can transform itself into a hatred of "outsiders" rather than a love of political freedoms.

This type of harmful attitude remains an issue in the US to this day. Miller closes his essay by saying, "I am not sure what The Crucible is telling people now, but I know that its paranoid center is still pumping out the same darkly attractive warning that it did in the fifties.

The fear of witches only seems archaic because most of society no longer holds serious beliefs in the supernatural. Today, scenarios like this can be even more insidious because "witch hunts" are conducted for types of people that really do exist. There were, of course, communists in the US in the s, but the vast majority of them had no designs on overthrowing the US government or becoming Soviet spies.

The danger lies in assuming that purely because someone holds a political or religious belief, he or she must pose a threat. People who are viewed as "other" continue to be persecuted out of fear and ignorance.

The Crucible and McCarthyism can be compared to other modern forms of rumor, persecution, suspicion, and hysteria such as:. Now that you've read the article, you can try your hand at answering some of these discussion questions.

I've included a few different types of questions on this topic that you might encounter in your English class:.

Answers, n. This essay was written by a fellow student. You may use it as a guide or sample for writing your own paper, but remember to cite it correctly. Choose skilled expert on your subject and get original paper with free plagiarism report. Crucible VS. Accessed January 14, McCarthyism," GraduateWay , Aug In case you can't find a relevant example, our professional writers are ready to help you write a unique paper.

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Parris: All innocent and Christian people are happy for the courts in Salem! These people are gloomy for it. Here, Parris reacts to others disagreeing with his desire to question the ninety-one townspeople who signed a testament in defense of the good characters of Rebecca Nurse, Elizabeth Proctor, and Martha Corey—three women accused of witchcraft. Hawthorne: This is contempt of the court, Mr. Danforth, to avoid that : You will surely tell us the name.

Giles: I will not give you no name. I stand mute. Here, Giles Corey is being pressured by the court to provide the names of others in Salem who have practiced witchcraft, but he refuses to do so. Giles already regrets mentioning that his wife, Martha Corey, read books, a statement that led to her imprisonment because it was assumed she was reading books about witchcraft and spells.

Danforth, angered now : Reproach me not with the fear in the country; there is fear in the country because there is a moving plot to topple Christ in the country! Hale: But it does not follow that everyone accused is part of it. I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil! This material is available only on Freebooksummary. We use cookies to give you the best experience possible.

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