...In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, the tone of irony boats from every corner you look, this story casts a mirror onto McCarthyism and reflects the outcomes of this ironic process. The Crucible depicts the reality of the Salem Witch Trials in a time of hysteria and fear. Miller uses a past event to emphasize the effects of unnecessary fear imposed by McCarthyism, indirectly relating to the Salem Witch Trials. Miller’s, The Crucible, is one of irony in which it obliquely equates to the consequences of fear and blaming others by relating the Salem Witch Trials to McCarthyism. Abigail’s intentions regarding John Proctor are nothing if not ironic, you can see this perfectly in which Abigail acted out in a complete façade so that she could be...
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...Repetition, Regression, and Variation Throughout history, the same events are repeated as groups of people deal with problems in their society. Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, was written when McCarthyism, which involved the persecution of suspected communists, was at a high. The play explores the seemingly timeless parallels of panicked groups hoping to protect themself and their own between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Era trials that are still applicable today as the fight on terror advances. Notwithstanding the likeness between the three, anomalies appear that show growth or even regression in a culture do remain. Events such as unfair stereotyping, magnified paranoia, and targeting ideas through accusing people,...
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...The acts of desperation, moments of paranoia, and fear of communism in the article "Why I Wrote The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, connect accurately and correctly with specific events in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The first topic represented in both is the acts of desperation. In "Why I Wrote The Crucible", Miller states The Crucible was an act of desperation. Much of my desperation branched, I suppose, from a typical depression-era trauma-the blow struck on the mind by the rise of European Fascism and the brutal anti-Semitism it had brought to power" (W.I.W.T.C 2). This goes to show us that one of the reasons he wrote the play was due to the political events happening in the real world. This evidence correlates with Abigail's...
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...The Crucible Essay “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does no feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear” (Nelson Mandela). In simpler terms, courage is when something that a person believes in, is more important than the fear that comes with the consequences of that belief. The Crucible has many key themes, but the theme that has the broadest effect on the reader is courage. John Proctor is a great example of the courage shown. While, Abigail Williams shows immense cowardice. Throughout the Crucible many characters have to face the horrendous decision of whether to confess to have ‘been with the devil’ and lose their ‘good name’ or bee executed for that of which they did not do. John Proctor is a great example of a character with extraordinary courage. John although pressured to confess and knowing that he’ll hang, refuses to ruin his ‘good name’ and he does not fully confess to the crime. When Judge Danforth would not give up the argument with John to sign the confession, he asked, “Then explain to me, Mr. Proctor, why will you not let me have it?” (pg.1231). Proctor answered, “Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! I have given you my soul; leave me my name!” (pg.1232). These quotes show how strong willed John is in not having a bad reputation and how John has great courage and doesn’t lie just to live. However that John may express great courage...
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...The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a play written about the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. The story shows how people were accused of witchcraft through the corrupt society and killed for their supposed crimes. The time that Arthur Miller lived was filled with fear of communist infiltration into the government and accusations of people who were thought to be communists. Through his use of the Salem witch trials in The Crucible, Arthur Miller effectively illustrates the lives ruined from accusations during the Red Scare, showing the irrational way of dealing with paranoia and mob mentality leading to these accusations. The paranoia growing in people’s minds led to accusations during both the Red Scare and Salem witch trials. In the 1950s communism seemed like America’s greatest fear. The thought of communists infiltrating the American government was terrifying to Americans. With such fear of something comes paranoia of it. Because of this situation,...
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...The Connection by Kathleen Orozco P. Sepesi English 3.1 December 5, 2011 Outline I. Introduction II. America in the 1600’s A. Puritanism B. Salem Witch Trials III. America in the 1950’s A. Communism B. Joseph McCarthy IV. McCarthyism A. McCarthy Trials (HUAC) B. Blacklisting C. Elia Kazan D. Arthur Miller V. The Crucible A. The Summary B. The theme VI. The Allegory A. Danforth and the HUAC B. Danforth and Joseph McCarthy C. Elia Kazan and Abigail Williams VII. The conclusion The Connection The Crucible written by Arthur Miller has a symbolic meaning. It is an allegory, “a story in which people, things, and events have a symbolic meaning, often instructive.” (Agnes 17). The setting, the Salem witch trials of the 1600’s is similar to the McCarthy trials of the 1950’s. The people, the events, the details relate to one another. Miller purposely wrote his story to instruct the fact that the mentality of the people in the 1950’s was no different than the mentality of people in the 1600’s. In the 1600’s people followed a strict religion known as puritanism. The Puritans believed they were sent by God to purify the world of sin and evil. Because of this they believed they were superior to others. Consequently, when they did sin, they tended to feel guilty and blame others for their faults. This blame and guilt led to one of the most fearful times in America. The Salem witch trials happened during the 1600’s and at a time where everyone...
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...Reputation of the Crucible (Examine three characters on detail who are concerned about their reputation in the Crucible) Throughout history, the concern of one's reputation, has dictated the character or actions of a person. A reputation is a widespread belief that someone or something has a particular habit or characteristic. So a reputation can affect the way the community sees another. The concern of their reputation has had quite a positive effect on a main storyline. Although, it could also have a negative side effect on the characters way of life. In the book the Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, reputation has affected many characters in the book such as: John Proctor, Abigail, and Reverend Parris. In the book Crucible by Arthur Miller, one of the main characters that happens to be concerned about their reputation is Abigail. From the start, Abigail had a vendetta against Elizabeth Proctor. In the Crucible, by Miller, Abigail states to Proctor, “She is blackening my name in...
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...13 February 2016 Reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller was a thrilling and mesmerizing experience. Every aspect of the play was entertaining. The story of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is less about the tale of the witch hunt and trials. Subsequently, it is more about how the witch hunt and trials take an effect on the communities. Throughout the course of time, when a situation that causes a mass hysteria, people will force themselves to conform in order to place themselves in a safe spot. For instance, during the Salem witch trials, people admitted to “crimes” that they never actually committed, or began accusing others who were once allies (ex. neighbors, friends, etc.) in order to keep themselves in the clear and safe from being hanged or jailed. If one was doing what they could in order to maintain the safety of the community, they earned themselves a safe spot. It was the individuals who were not pointing fingers in order to help out the “witches” that were soon assumed to be subject to the Devil’s influence and were eventually either jailed or hanged (sometimes both). Arthur Miller utilizes John Proctor’s protagonist character in order to show not just what he believed was the right thing to do in a situation such as this one, but to show how difficult it is to sometimes play the role of a nonconformist tackling a much larger group of people. Also, The Crucible shows how mass hysteria can eventually allude to violence. The Crucible was not only a terrific story of...
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...Maria Blanco Period 2 The Crucible Essay Draft Fear and loathing can overpower all senses of reason. A doctor conducted that the children were suffering from the effects of witchcraft. Some people were actually innocent and they still hanged them because they thought that they were witches. Salem Reverend Parris attempted to capitalize on fear when he preached about the witches that abounded in Salem. Arthur Miller, in his drama “The Crucible”,illustrates fear through the actions and reactions of several of his characters. In Act III the characters show lots of fear. For example, Abigail William for instance, fears discovery of her deceit in the town of Salem and commits all sorts of heinous acts to prevent herself,regardless of the harm done to to others. Marry Warrens is innocent and she's trying to save herself from Danforth because he thinks that she is lying when really she isn’t. Proctor is scared because he doesn’t want his wife to be killed and because he had an affair with Abigail. Abigail shows many of her “acts” in many of the scenes to prevent herself from getting hanged. For example, in Act III page 1307, Abigail says “ A wind,a cold wind,has come. Her eyes fall on Marry Warren.” While Marry Warren pleases Abigail to stop lying . Proctor then says “They’re pretending” Abigail acts as if a soul went inside of her, but it is all pretend. In Act III Proctor,Marry Warren, Abigail, Hathorne, Danforth, and the girls are in the court room. This Act shows...
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...in the crucible In his play, The Crucible, Arthur miller presents an allegory for McCarthyism through the use of the Salem With trials of 1692. In the crucible, miller uses many techniques to create drama to influence the decisions of the ordinary townsfolk. Drama is created by placing key protagonists in situations of conflict. The intolerance of puritan society towards new or different practices is one of the ways that miller creates drama. Another factor is the maintenance of personal reputation and the consequences of conflict upon this status. By manipulating ordinary people, hysteria also creates a large sum of drama. Through an analysis of Intolerance, reputation and hysteria, this essay will explore how conflict creates drama. In a puritan society, not meeting the social norms was seen as treason and heavily persecuted. This lead to an intolerance of anyone who did not worship god, and dissent lead to beliefs of Satanic activity. Judge Danforth quotes in act three page 85 "You are either with the court or against it". Miller uses tone to foreshadow what is yet to come in the the text. The tone of this sentence shows that the witch trials are the ultimate form of intolerance and hanging...
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...The Crucible that Arthur Miller wrote exposed the injustice the witch hunting’s were and hysteria outbreak people had with the fear of witches or anything they consider bad. The Red Scare is a good example of people getting scared and blames anyone they see. The Soviet Union communist were named the “Reds”. In 1940s to the early 1950s people were hysterical thinking that the reds were going to take over. The scare had people with a range of actions that had a profound and enduring effect on U.S. government and society. HUAC was formed they found with harbor hoover 12 prominent leaders of the American Communist Party on charges that they had plans to advocated the overthrow of the government. Two were convicted and executed in 1951, The crucible was an example of how the fear of the public drives people to blame and take action. Joseph R. McCarthy was always trying to expose communist just like the judges in the book and Abby she accused women for being witches and the judges just convicted who ever just to maintain their record. But Joseph pointed the finger at almost everyone in the government he worked with. He even launched a full investigation on them 2,000 government officials lost their jobs even though there was a lack of proof, they were fired anyways. He violated people’s civil rights with harsh integrations of witnesses in hearings. Just like in the Crucible the judges harshly interrogated the claimed to be witnesses making them change stories to fit what they wanted...
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...In the past years, people have gone through extreme measures to protect themselves of accused witchery. These accusations have led to death, hate, and fear to rise as a result, people would no longer trust each other and everything would be said carefully in order to avoid being blamed for something unreal. Arthur Miller demonstrates these events of witchery in the story The Crucible, the story shows the lengths that people go through to protect themselves and how it affected the society as a whole. In the 1950s, however, a similar event happened in which the Communist Party brought distrust and tensions in society. Millers article “Are You Now or Were You Ever?”, discusses how the McCarthy Era in the 1950s and the Salem Witch Trials are abundantly similar since both dealt with fear and paranoia in society, this led to the writing of The Crucible to begin as a result with rhetorical strategies such as rhetorical questions and the appeal to ethos....
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...Arthur Miller’s The Crucible details the power that can be gained through manipulation of weak-minded or easily swayed individuals for one’s personal gain. In The Crucible, Abigail Williams manages to manipulate young girls in her town into pretending that other people are engaging in witchcraft. Abigail begins to accuse a significant number of townsfolk that protest her lies, all the while managing to manipulate the judges in charge of the trials into believing her and the other young girls. Abigail’s ability to lie and control those around her has been paralleled a multitude of times throughout history and continues to present itself in other instances today. With this in mind, it is clear that The Crucible strongly illustrates the ability...
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...Mass hysteria is the phenomenon in which a group of people experience similar symptoms of anxiety, fear, or other physical symptoms. A well-known case of mass hysteria in history was the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. This incident was portrayed by the Arthur Miller play The Crucible, in which a group of girls starting falsely accusing multiple women in their town of witchcraft, starting a wave of hysterical fear throughout the village. Neighbors would accuse others of witchcraft over land disputes, petty squabbles or simply because they did not like them (Miller). A more recent case, and on a much greater scale, was the Pokémon Panic of 1997, when an episode of Pokémon in Japan sent hundreds of children to the hospital with seizure-like symptoms....
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...Setting is very important in The Crucible because at the time everything unknown was explained by religion. The people said it was witchcraft because they did not have the knowledge that making a deal with devil was not possible. If this were to happen today, everyone would laugh at the accuser because we know witchcraft is not a thing. It would not have the same effect as it did in Salem because religion is not a major part of life for everyone as it was for the people in Salem. In Salem, the “New England Way” meant all work, no play. Part of the reason the witch hunt went crazy is because the strange activity could not be explained because they were so used to work and not fooling around. When the people saw this they could only point to...
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