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Miller’s book, The Crucible, is about many young women in Salem, Massachusetts being accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials in the 1690s. There is a lot of chaos that goes down between the people being accused, and the accusers themselves. The whole entire village in Salem goes into hysteria. At the end of the book, 19 villagers have died, and over 200 arrested.
Arthur Miller himself was accused of communism and “un-American” things during McCarthyism in the 1950s. He used his personal experiences to write The Crucible. He knew exactly what it was like to be accused of something that you have nothing to do with. In his book, he reveals the moral and political similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Trials of his own time.
The fact that he experienced something so similar is important because it means that he can relate to how the villagers felt during the Salem Witch Trials. Miller got first-hand experience of having to deal with it, therefore he would be able to write about it well. In the book, it seems to be that the people that get accused are people with low reputations. This can probably relate back to what happened to him in the 1950s.
Arthur Miller was born in Manhattan during the Great Depression. This is something that would definitely influence his writing since the stock market crash began in New York. Miller and his family were forced to move to Brooklyn when he was young because of the major loss that happened due to the crash. They started out in the middle class, so this must have been a big change in his family. The Depression was something that really affected Miller; In this quote, he says, ‘It seems easy to tell how it was to live in those years, but I have made several attempts to tell it and when I do try I know I cannot quite touch that mysterious underwater thing.’ This shows that the Great Depression affected his writing in many ways.
Growing up, Miller and his family did not have a lot of money. In addition to that, Miller did not do very well in school. Due to his poor grades and family finances, he could not attend college right away. For 2 years he worked as a deliveryman for his father, a tenor, and a stock clerk. I think this would affect his writing a lot because he did not get the same privilege that other students had at the time. After a few years, he saved up a minimum of 500 dollars and got into college. This is where he first encountered anti-Semitism. This is shown as a theme in his future writings. In the 1950s, the Red Scare was creating fear and hysteria among many Americans. Miller himself was accused of being a communist. Many of his theatre associates were accused as well and were put under suspicion by the government. This is where the idea for The Crucible comes from, as it pertains to being accused of something you have nothing to do with. Arthur Miller went through a lot trying to shut down these rumors and having to deal with the people spreading them. This influenced many of his later writings as well as The Crucible.
The theme of “The Crucible” is that hysteria plays a really consequential role in society. Hysteria can cause people to think that the people they have known for years could commit a crime as serious and terrible as murder. You can see in the novel that when people are accused of witchcraft, everyone goes ballistic and nobody can trust each other. Hysteria only ends in death to many and complete chaoses. Nothing good comes out of paranoia. Hysteria is what causes the town of Salem to eventually fall apart. This theme is clearly represented throughout the beginning of each Act. One example of this theme is at the beginning of Act 3. In this scene, Paris is afraid that John Proctor will disprove the accusations against himself and clear his own name. This would cause Paris and Abigail to lose their reputations so Paris eventually accuses John of trying to overthrow the court. This causes everyone in the room to immediately interrogate him, as he continues to deny the allegations. In Act 3, Paris says “They’ve come to overthrow the court, Sir!” (Miller 88). In response to this, John Proctor is eventually executed by hanging after being falsely accused and convicted of Witchcraft. All of this is because of one lie. This is a good example because it demonstrates how hysteria builds up and causes complete chaos. Another example of the theme, Hysteria, is in Act 1. In this scene, Abigail begins to proclaim her love for God in an attempt to have herself seem innocent. Abigail says “I want the light of God! I want the sweet love of Jesus!” (Miller 48). She does this to get a reaction out of people, and it did in fact cause everyone to get emotional. When the others began to express emotion, Abigail also continues to over-exaggerate and pretend her own emotions. This is a good example because it demonstrates how one character’s actions can affect a whole group of people’s feelings and actions. Hysteria is the cause of the growth in the conflict in Salem and causes disturbance across the entire town. At the beginning of Scene one, Abigail is terrified of having her name destroyed, so she proceeds to make false accusations against others, such as Elizabeth and John Proctor. Abigail states “My name is good in the village! I will not have it said my name is soiled! Goody Proctor is a gossiping liar” (Miller 12). Once again, she does this to get the attention away from herself so that nobody would think to accuse her. These allegations did cause the people of Salem to get paranoid and more and more people were getting accused. This is a good example because it shows the negative effect of Hysteria in just one town. The traumatizing experience that the characters went through symbolizes many experiences that Arthur Miller and many others went through during the 1950s. Symbolism is demonstrated plenty throughout the novel. The play, The Crucible, is a symbol itself. The novel was written when all of America was fearful of communism, otherwise known as The Red Scare. A senator named Joseph McCarthy gained America’s trust through his Congressional investigations of Communists. Other senators that ran against him called these investigations “witch hunts”. McCarthy and his supporters created hysteria and fear in America. The same thing happened in the Salem Witch Trials when hysteria came upon the community called Salem. Many people who did not practice witchcraft still confessed to practicing, just like a lot of non-communists confessed to supporting Communism. Many people were falsely accused of Witchcraft in The Crucible, and many people were also accused of Communism in the 1950s in order to evade punishment.
Another literary device that is used commonly throughout The Crucible is Imagery. Examples of Imagery are at the beginning of every Act. One specific example would be how Miller describes the Salem Jail in Act 4. In Act 4, the narrator says “At the back is a high barred window, near it, a great, heavy door. Along the walls are two benches. The place is in darkness but for the moonlight seeping through the bars. It appears empty. Presently footsteps are heard coming down a corridor beyond the wall, keys rattle, and the door swings open. Marshal Herrick enters with a lantern” (Miller 121). The author describes the jail in this way so that the reader can imagine what the jail may look like, and also to create suspense or fear among the reader. Another literary device used in The Crucible is Verbal Irony. Verbal Irony is shown when Abigail says “Oh, Mary, this is a black art to change your shape. No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; it’s God’s work I do” (Miller 115). This statement is ironic because Abigail claims that she is doing God’s work, but in reality, she is manipulative, and evil, and does the absolute opposite of that. Miller wrote it this way to create confusion or suspense among the reader. An example of Dramatic Irony is also demonstrated in the play. Danforth begins to say ‘I tell you straight, Mister—I have seen marvels in this court. I have seen people choked before my eyes by spirits; I have seen them stuck by pins and slashed by daggers. I have until this moment not the slightest reason to suspect that the children may be deceiving me.’ (Miller 55). This is ironic because the audience knows the entire time that Abigail is lying and has been convincing and deceiving people to believe her. Judge Danforth on the other hand does not know about Abigail’s plans. The way that Miller demonstrates the theme and uses characterization throughout the novel helps the reader to sympathize with him and many others that were accused of Communism in the 1950s.
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