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Have you ever been accused of something that you didn’t do just because people fear that they were going to be accused of it? That’s exactly what Arthur Miller wrote in a play called The Crucible during the most fearful and terrifying times for Americans…The Red Scare. This led to a range of actions that had a profound and enduring effect not only on the U.S. government but also the society as well. Federal employees like U.S. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and workers from the House Un-American Activities Committee were analyzed to determine whether they were loyal or a traitor to the U.S government. Arthur uses The Crucible as an allegory to show the parallels between the Salem witch trials, McCarthyism, and the hearings of the house committee on non-American activists.
The Crucible tells a story about a little town in Massachusetts called Salem where false accusations and unjustifiable trials are happening, just like what was happening in the events of The Red Scare. Characters like John Proctor and Giles Cory from The Crucible are accused and imprisoned without solid evidence for their accusation. They were accused because the judges are filled with fear that influenced their decisions and actions they took. The same thing can be said of the U.S Government during the red scare when they started to take innocent citizens into custody without carefully examining or finding proof.
McCarthyism is a term that describes an intense time period in the United States when anti-communist suspicion was at an all-time high. The word McCarthyism gets its name from former U.S senator Joseph McCarthy, a republican of Wisconsin. It also references McCarthy’s practices of making accusations to many people in the U. S of having some sort of connection to communism without having solid proof that they did such a thing (Citation). People who were accused were blacklisted which meant they lost their jobs and were usually sentenced to jail. During this time the public didn’t think anything of it like it was normal. This was also happening to the people in The Crucible when not only the judges, but also the people living in the town didn’t think this was unjust, and those who spoke up were most certainly accused of witchcraft which put fear in the rest of the people (Miller 513). Even the author of the play Arthur Miller was found guilty of contempt in May 1957 because he didn’t want to give names to communists and was sentenced to prison, refused of a valid passport and blacklisted. Something that John Proctor did at the end of the play when the judges wanted him to give the names of those who were working with the devil but refused to do so (Miller 537)
House Un-American Activities Committee or HUAC was founded in 1938 and its role was to find and investigate Communist and fascist organizations that had become active during the Great Depression. They called American citizens to testify before congress to be questioned or provide names of communists that have infiltrated the United States. Those who refused to testify or give any info would be either sent to prison or blacklisted and sometimes even both. Those who were accused of being communists by someone who gave the HUAC their name were also asked to testify and provide the names of other communists. While this was happening the public was split into two groups with one side supporting the HUAC saying ‘its efforts were justified given the grave threat to U.S. security posed by communism'(History. com). The other side opposed the HUAC saying that ‘HUAC’s tactics amounted to a witch hunt that trampled on citizens’ rights and ruined their careers and reputations’ (History.com). The same can be said for the people in the crucible living in Salem were people some people are disgusted but in fear of what the judges were doing. While Others supported them thinking they were ‘cleansing’ the area of evil.
In conclusion, Arthur Miller uses The Crucibles’ unjustifiable and disturbing acts to show the parallels between the Salem witch trials, McCarthyism, and the HUAC all used fear as a tactic to get people talking and doing what they want. This led to many innocent people losing everything and for the people in The Crucible the deaths of so many innocent people. The resemblance of all these events to The Crucible can’t be denied and is a reminder to never do these evil and atrocious acts ever again.
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