Cultural 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, …show more content…
Witchcraft may have been an easy assumption to make because Tituba, a slave and accused witch, is said to have been from Barbados, a place known for its practice of voodoo, but there are “no references to [Tituba practicing witchcraft] in the court records” (Brooks, 2016, para. 5). Abigail, the one making accusations against townspeople, chose her first target wisely, picking on someone who could potentially be a likely offender based on stereotypes. Not only does this attest cunningness of Abigal, this also is an example of stereotyping, as exhibited through characters in The Crucible. In the McCarthy Era, one of the biggest stereotypes was that all celebrities had ties with the communist regime. As a result, at least 50 people, consisting of directors, writers, and actors were blacklisted between 1946 and 1960 (Nscivoletto, 2015, para. 1). Dozens of celebrities lost their jobs and had their names ruined because stereotypes and false assumptions were taken as facts. Radical religious stereotypes and the labeling of terrorists is most common today. As stated in a lawsuit, filed by a business was devastated after an accusation, “the only thing worse in this day and age than being labeled a terrorist is being wrongly labeled a terrorist” (Omand, 2016, para. 3). Based on terrorist attacks of radical groups, Muslims face this mislabeling and stereotyping often. Although the assumptions and stereotypes are not true, the wrongdoings of a small group quickly gives way for negative stereotypes to be turned into