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Crucible Essay History repeats itself in many ways sometimes it will be a man making a simple mistake like a man forgetting to pick his dry-cleaning up or it can be something along the lines of people becoming paranoid and fighting and preparing for things that aren’t really there. The Red Scare of 1947 to the late 1950s is a perfect example of our nation repeating a history event from 1692, The Salem Witch Trials an event that our nation still remembers today innocent lives lost that definitely didn’t deserve it. One of the victims to the Red Scare Arthur Miller made a satire of it using “The Crucible” (A play based on the witch hunts) comparing the Red Scare to the Salem Witch Trials, he claims everything he was accused for is just as ridiculous and embarrassing to our country as the Salem Witch Trials were. In this Essay I will be comparing Arthur Miller's Crucible to the Red scare of the 1940's. There’s this Guy who basically claims our government is filled to the brim with communists and we need to weed them out, His name is Joseph McCarthy, he was born in Grand Chute, Wisconsin in 1909 and he died in 1957 on May 2nd due to Alcohol poisoning.(Joseph 1)
On 9th February, 1950, at a meeting of the Republican Women's Club in Wheeling, West Virginia, McCarthy claimed that he had a list of 205 people in the State Department that were known to be members of the American Communist Party (late he reduced this figure to 57)(Joseph 1).
Joseph McCarthy was a dirty man who in fact threw a lot of mud at his opponents; he even claimed so many false accusations against one of his opponents they committed suicide! McCarthy also claimed that La Follette had made huge profits from his investments while he had been away fighting for his country. The suggestion that La Follette had been guilty of war profiteering (his investments had in fact been in a radio station), was deeply damaging and McCarthy won by 207,935 to 202,557. La Follette, deeply hurt by the false claims made against him, retired from politics, and later committed suicide”(Joseph 1).
The only reason McCarthy started his communistic assault is because the feds were on him for taking bribes from the Pepsi-cola company, so one of his closet members Edmund Walsh, a Roman Catholic Priest, suggested he go after the communists(Joesph 1). This of course begins the Red Scare and the rise of McCarthyism. The Red Scare comes from the slang for communists which is Reds they use it now to describe America fear of Communistic revolt and take over during the 1950s. McCarthyism obviously comes from John McCarthy’s name, the meaning of McCarthyism comes from his quick accusations to people who he didn’t even have enough evidence on most of the time they were just Hollywood entertainers such as Arthur miller, Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle. (Arthur Miller 1) Known as McCarthyism, the paranoid hunt for infiltrators was notoriously difficult on writers and entertainers, many of whom were labeled communist sympathizers and were unable to continue working. (Arthur 1) In 1950 the Korean war started which Gave McCarthy even more attention and between 1950 and 1954 he was probably the most powerful politician in the United States he would keep lying and if he was caught he'd lie again and if a case faded he'd introduce a new one (Freemen 427). Eventually though McCarthy fell from power after a television broadcast of him attempting to defame army officials and the public was shocked as to see what McCarthy was like he badgered and twisted the truth and even snickered at the suffering of the people he accused and after that his power was taken away. By the time the hearings ended in mid-June, the senator had lost many of his strongest supporters. The Senate Formally censured, or condemned him for his reckless accusations(Freemen 427). McCarthyism and the witch trials are almost an exact parallel it is a great example of history repeating itself and Arthur Miller saw it first hand since he was black listed because he refused to testify in front of the House of Un-American Activities committee (Arthur 1). Joseph McCarthy can be easily compared to the girls in “The Crucible” they didn't tell the truth about something and when the opportunity to lie came up they used it and used it quick. Joseph McCarthy was nearly caught for taking Bribes from Pepsi-Cola (as mentioned earlier) and in “The Crucible” Abigail and Betty were almost caught for dancing and making charms, they both were given an opportunity to change the subject and lie about it Abigail and Betty blamed the dancing and charm on a slave named Tituba then Abigail found it to be a way to get personal gain and claimed other women she didn't like were witches(Miller 43). McCarthy was being watched by the public, because of suspected bribing so he said Communists were invading America and he had a list of Suspected communists and it was growing every time he talked about it (Joseph 1). It's all about using a scapegoat McCarthy used Communists to get out of trouble and Abigail and Betty used Tituba. Arthur Miller wrote this play because he was angry at society for shunning him because he didn't want to testify so he made this play, and basically called the Red scare just a big flashy witch hunt of the 20th century.Using the ‘Salem Witch Trials’ of the early 1690s as a precinct, Arthur Miller wrote “The Crucible”. The characters in the play are faced with the same tragedies & sentences that befell people during the McCarthyism trials; he uses the ‘Salem Witch Trials’ as a metaphor to draw national attention towards the doings and executioners of the McCarthyism propaganda(Why 1) Arthur Miller wrote the Crucible to satire the current United States Government of his time. They were paranoid and willing to believe some child with a fake story. He was Black listed because he refused to testify to the House of Un-American Activities committee. So to get Public attention he decided to write “The Crucible” because of the astonishing things he saw in the late 1940s early 1950s he was responding to a phenomenon that paralyzed a whole generation in a short time and drained up the habits of trust and toleration in the public. (Miller 1) The Crucible straddles two different worlds to make them one, but it is not history in the usual sense of the word, but a moral, political and psychological construct that floats on the fluid emotions of both eras (Miller 1). Arthur Miller wrote this to satire his government and as well show that he had freedom and in a way it shows that everyone has right to free speech no matter what political background, ethnic, walk of life, etc. which brings me to my conclusion In conclusion “The Crucible was written as a satire upon our state of government in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This essay has made me realize many things about our old government and how much still hasn't changed, we still have corruption in congress and all over it like some sort of virus, and we still stand and do nothing. Arthur Miller is a man who was casted off by his own government but he didn't sit there and do nothing he stood up and told them what they did was ridiculous and he would let his fellow citizen know. McCarthy was a Corrupt politician that thought he could do whatever he wanted and eventually his lies caught up with him. That is one thing that didn't happen in the Salem Witch Trials though those lies never caught up with their liars. Arthur Miller saw this comparison after he was black listed and sent to jail and of course this would be his inspiration to write this play, to show that the people accused were innocent, just like the folks in the Salem witch trials. I would like to end my essay with a quote from Arthur Miller in honor of him and to show how right he is. It is all very strange. But then, the Devil is known to lure people into forgetting what it is vital for them to remember - how else could his endless reappearances always come as such a marvelous surprise? (Arthur 1).

Works Cited page
Arthur Miller. pbs. August 23 2011.Web. Dec, 13, 2011. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/arthur-miller/mccarthyism/484/
Arthur Miller .Spartacus. ND. Web. December,13,2011. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmillerA.htm
Arthur Miller. upenn . May, 31, 2007.Web. December, 13 2011.http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/miller-mccarthyism.html
Biography. apl. April,12,2003.Web. Dec, 13, 2011. http://www.apl.org/history/mccarthy/biography.html
Joseph McCarthy. spartacus. ND. Web. Dec 13 2011. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmccarthy.htm
Joseph McCarthy. wisegeek. ND. Web. Dec 13 2011.http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-mccarthyism.htm
McCarthyism. wisegeek.03 December 2011.Web. December, 13, 2011. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-mccarthyism.htm
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, New York. Penguin Group.1953.Print
Freeman, Scott. U.S. History. Boston, Massachusetts. Pearson Prentice Hall. Print
What is McCarthyism?. thepoliticus. August 12,2011. Web. December, 13, 2011.http://thepoliticus.com/content/what-mccarthyism

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