McCarthyism in "The Crucible"

Introduction

Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, is an allegory of the Red Scare that impacted society mentally, physically, and spiritually.

“The Crucible “by Arthur miller uses the witch trials of Salem Massachusetts as a figure of speech for the red scare. The witch trials of the puritan town of Salem happened during the year of 1692. There were numerous people accused, and some put to death by hanging for being accused of being a witch, or practicing witchcraft. The trials began a result of the character Abigail, influencing and threatening a group of girls into saying false admissions that they worked for the devil.

The hysteria started when the girls realized that they could be accused of being a witch. They were caught dancing in the woods with a slave named Tituba. To take the spotlight from themselves they began accusing other citizens. The girls knew the puritans feared the supernatural so they used this fear to promote their crusade of lies and deception to seek punishment on those they disliked.

These accusations put the town of Salem Massachusetts in a tailspin.

Arthur Miller’s inspiration for writing The Crucible came from the events surrounding the McCarthy trials and their similarity to the historical Salem Witch Trials. The Red Scare affected Arthur Miller personally (PBS). His close friend had recently testified in front of the Un-American Activities Committee. Miller traveled to Salem, Massachusetts, to research the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Upon his return, he heard that his friend named fellow actors and playwrights that had ties with communism.

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Soon after, he began to write the Crucible. Both events depicted a time in America where mass hysteria existed and innocent people where victimized and instilled with fear. Miller saw a resemblance between the way the Salem witch trials and The House of Un-American Activities Committee encouraged citizens to be disloyal to each other.

Biographical

Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible because of the McCarthy trials happening during the late 1940s and early 1950s. In the play The Crucible, during the 1950s thru 1954, The United States was worried about the Soviet union rising to power and pushing their communist beliefs and ways on to Americans. These beliefs lead to a lot of paranoia inside the U.S government. U.S. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin was instrumental in leading the hunt for people who was believed to be communist in the United States Government. On February 20, 1950, McCarthy addressed the Senate and made claims against a group of people who he suspected to be “card carrying” communists (McCarthyism p.183-4). McCarthy was in charge of The House of Un-American Activities Committee, which was used as a tool to investigate communist accusations. This air of fear and paranoia was named “McCarthyism”. This started chaos in Washington and in Hollywood. McCarthy used groundless information and force, to launch himself as a dominant and feared person in U.S political arena. He charged disloyalty at celebrities, and anyone who disagreed with his biased views. This cost many people their careers and reputations. Arthur Miller was a playwright. His skills and occupation as a playwright allowed him to bring light to the chaos that surrounded the McCarthy trials in the form of a 4 act Play. McCarthyism was like a modern equivalence to The Crucible.

Both events, and the people were represented. The character Abigail represented McCarthy. Both start the hysteria by initiating false accusation of people with out any proof. Hollywood was represented by the Salem townspeople. The accused in Salem and the actors who were questioned, were forced to make to tell on others. The Salemnites told on others to save their lives, the accused in the McCarthyism era was forced to tell lies to keep from being jailed or their reputation ruined. Witches were the same as Communists; these were people who were seen as committing the crimes. John Proctor would represent Arthur Miller. John Proctor would not lie on others to save his life, Arthur miller refuse to accused anyone of communism in spite of losing his status in Hollywood. For Salem, the crime was against religion; the McCarthy era the crime was against the Communist way of thinking and the communist way of living.

McCarthyism 1 1/2 -2 pages

After the success of the Crucible, Miller was black listed as a Communist. Discuss McCarthyism and the impact on society. Describe how the events surrounding the McCarthy trials resemble the way Salem Witch Trials were conducted. In the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller, The Salem witch trials and McCarthyism had some of the same ways of questioning and condemning citizens. McCarthyism is defined as ‘the political practice of publicizing accusations of disloyalty or subversion with insufficient regard to evidence” (American Heritage Dictionary). it was named after Senator John McCarthy. It was an anti-communist campaign to identify communist in the Government. McCarthyism Many of these people also did not belong to the Communist party. Most of the people who were accused of being a Communist were blacklisted and fired from their jobs. To be blacklisted meant that they would be ostracized, shamed and ousted amongst their communities. Suspected communist were found in different ways. Some were found thru having associations with known communist people or organizations. (How history works while others, were accused of being communist because of their sexual preference.

No matter how you were found, McCarty went after all the accused with the same aggressiveness. Once a person was accused, The House of Un-American Activities questioned them. Without having any real proof, the procedures were brutal and demeaning. The questioning was used to damage the accused character. Although Most of the suspected feared reprisal, a certain few did not scare so easily. An example of this was The Hollywood 10. These were actors, directors and screenwriters who were blacklisted, fined and imprisoned. They denounce the tactics that were used by the committee and refused to answer questions or tell on others. No one in the Hollywood scene would hire them for fear of being marked as communist themselves.

They did not back down, instead of being dishonest to themselves or others they decide to protect their integrity and not their reputations and standup to the HUAC. In the Salem witch Trails; Reverend Hale, Judge Danforth and Judge Hathorne were the committee appointed to conduct the witch trials. In doing so, they aggressively question and shamefaced the citizens of Salem. They used fear and intimidation to ruin their character’s and standing within their community. This “witch-hunt” is also done without any proof. The citizens were blacklisted if they were under suspension for practicing witchcraft or refuse to speak on others who are doing the same. To be blacklisted in Salem was to have your reputation stained and to be put in jail. Thomas Putnam, he feared that if anyone would find out that his niece and the other girls were dancing in the woods, it would be said that they were dancing with the devil, this could ruin his reputation. He decided to save his reputation and keep up the lies that were being told. An example of integrity was John Putnam. After wrestling with his conscience, he decided not to confess to the untruth or on his fellow Salem neighbors. He says”…I have given you my soul; leave me my name. (The Crucible, ACT IV pg.133)

Puritanism and Communism

Puritanism: Arthur Miller chose The Salem Witch Trials to show society that this was not the first time in American history the government spread fear and false accusations to condemn innocent people. Discuss how the tenants of Puritanism and Communism helped to spread fear and hysteria. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur miller, hysteria was spread through the use of fear and intimidation .The culture of The Puritan in The Crucible is a spiritual, close knit, and observant group. The way they live their lives was based on their beliefs. They are a theocratic culture; state and moral laws are the same, which means rigid rules and rigid social norms. This is why it was so easy for the town to get caught up in the mass hysteria. The pinned up frustrations and resentments come through the chaos and opened up a gateway for Salem to be easily influenced to turn on one another after living and knowing each other for years.

The Character Abigail help starts the hysteria and helps to keep it alive. Abigail and the others girls in the town persuade the judge, and a lot of others townspeople that there are witches and they are practicing witch craft and the devils work in Salem. Once the judge believes the girls, everyone jumps on board with their own agendas. This is the perfect atmosphere to settle all unspoken grievances and resentments. For instance, when Abigail said, “ I saw Sarah Good with the devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil” (The Crucible Act1 pg45). Abigail says this to deflect from herself and to be forgiven for her actions. The judging committee feels if you are honest by turning in yourself, your word is believable. The truth can only come from someone who has himself dabbled in witchcraft and can therefore identify others as well. This is evident when Danforth says, “Witchcraft is ipso facto, on its face and by its nature, an invisible crime, is it not? Therefore who may possibly be witness to it? The witch and the victim… (The Crucible Act III PG .93). Salem if you confess you is exonerated. also points the finger at others thus the starting the hysteria. In the McCarthy trials, once a U.S citizen was accused of communism and questioned by the HCUA they were expected to turn on others as well.

Story Analysis

Arthur Miller found many similarities in the Salem Witch Trials compared to the McCarthyism Trials in mid twentieth century. The Crucible by Arthur Miller

About the Witch trials in Salem Massachusetts of 1692 had a lot of similarities to the McCarthyism era in the United States government between the years of 1950- 1954. In the McCarthyism era hundreds of unsubstantiated accusations were made against citizens of the United States for being or affiliated with communism. The United States was fearful of communism; John McCarthy played on that fear and began to use it to intimidate citizen. These unfounded claims of communism were done without any proof.

Once a person was indentified as being communist or having any association, they were questioned by the HUCA committee, and expected to confess to being a communist and then tell on other citizens, even if the claims were false. Failure to do so could lead to further prosecution. These claims ruined people’s lives and their reputations. It also caused Hysteria. Although most America disagreed with this method of prosecuting people with no just cause, no one was willing to stand up and say anything for fear of being called a communist themselves. McCarthyism instilled fear and hysteria in attempt to condemn people. They were threatened to confess to being a communist or be imprisoned. The pursuit and accusing of so-called communist was referred to as “witch-hunts”. It was called this because they were very similar to The Salem witch Trials of 1992. Hundreds of people were imprisoned, lost their jobs, their relationships and their standing within their communities. In the play the Crucible, Salem was a puritan town and that feared the supernatural.

The Character Abigail was the main accuser. She and a group of girls made the initial claim and named numerous townspeople of a being a witch or practicing witchcraft. She too played on the fears of the good citizens of Salem. Her words were (once you were accused of being a witch of having affiliation you were subjected to a committee and was questioned. If you confessed and repented you could be saved. You were also expected to tell on other citizens. Failure to do resulted in death by hanging or stoning. The accusers lead by fear and intimidation. In Salem religion and reputation were of utmost importance, if these two things were compromised you were Shamed. No One was willing to stand up to the witch-hunt committee for fear of reprisal. An example of this was a statement made by Danforth in reaction to reading the petition of good opinion for Rebecca, Martha and Elizabeth. “A person is either with this court or he must against be counted against it, there be no road in between” (The Crucible Act III pg. 87). Meaning that they are officers of the court appointed by God and if you go against God you must be not of God. Both, McCarthyism and the Salem witch trials were solely based on Fear.

Conclusion

Arthur Miller showed how the government could impact society mentally, physically, and spiritually, by spreading hysteria, and threatening their livelihood. The Crucible by Author Miller, and McCarthyism showed how instilling fear via intimidation; bullying and coercion could affect a small community like Salem as well as a large population like the United States. A group of girls started a small lie that turned into a vicious cycle of deceit and disruption by the use of fear, in the quest to protect their reputations. In McCarthyism, Senator McCarthy was in search of power and boosting his career. He ruled by fear of communism to make a country turn against one another. These proceedings had no proof but word of mouth. Although both events happen at different times in America, fear was the commonality. It turned both eras into a hysteria frenzy. In the crucible, people were blamed, shamed, jailed or hanged. McCarthyism, citizens lost their jobs, blacklisted, fined and jailed.

Works Cited

1. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/McCarthyism
2. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/arthur-miller-elia-kazan-and-the-blacklist-none-without-sin-why-arthur-miller-wrote-the-crucible/5911/
3. Arthur Miller Biography.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 10 Mar. 2017 WWW.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/arthur-miller-none-without-sin/56/
4. Ellen Schrecker and Phillip Deery. The Age Of McCarthyism A Brief History with Documents. Bedford St. Martin’s, 2016.
5. Arthur Miller. The Crucible. Penguin Group, 2003. McCarthyism. (n.d.) In American Heritage dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.american heritage dictionary.com. McCarthyism