Comparing The Salem Witch Trials In The Crucible By Arthur Miller

The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller in 1952, was a play about the horrors of the Salem Witch Trials that took place in the 1600’s. In order to persuade America that this was just a repeat of history, he made direct comparisons from events that had happened in the past, such as Using this method, he was able to show us how horrible and unreasonable these events were, and why we should not repeat what had happened in Salem, during the cold war. The Crucible is effective in proving to people that both the red scare and the Salem Witch trials are similar using . In the end, Arthur's story was a huge influence on the world today, and reminds us that to convict anyone of anything, we must give them a fair trial. Whether they’re being convicted …show more content…
In The Crucible, this is is shown when Mary Warren states, “But, Mr. Proctor, they will not hang them if they confess.” (Miller, 1058) In doing this, rather than hanging them based on evidence that they committed a crime, they will hang them if they do not confess to committing a crime. This shows us that the people do not trust the accused so much, that they will deprive them of a fair trial just so that they will confess to a crime they may or may not have committed. Their fate had already been decided when they were accused. This becomes even more obvious, once again, through the actions of Deputy Danforth. He states that “a person is either with this court or must be counted against it” (Miller, 1080) In doing this he is using a logical fallacy, by only giving the citizens the option to be with the court by agreeing with everything he has to say. If they dare disagree anything he has to say, they are automatically against the court and are immediately suspicious characters. This is very unfair to the accused. They have no way to defend themselves. Not unlike the events that took place in the 1950's when those who were accused of communist activities were called to court. Miller recalls another event in which he was in his lawyers office, notarizing his signature. “While he was stamping pages, I continued a discussion with my lawyer about Broadway theater, which …show more content…
In The Crucible, the single obvious remark made by Cheever, “There be so many cows wonderin' the highroads, now their masters are in the jails, and much disagreement as to who they will belong to now” (Miller, 1099) shows us that the town of Salem has gone so crazy by the trials that there are cows running lose in the town, due to their masters being in jail. This is the most obvious example in The Crucible of how the imprisonment of these people is effecting the town in whole. On a more personal level, people began acting crazy, and using reasoning that was filled with confusion. A good example of this is those in the court's constant and unwavering belief that the girls are telling the truth. Danforth states, “Now hear me, begile yourselves no more. I will not receive a single plea for pardon or postponment. Them that will not confess will hang. Twelve are already executed; the names of these seven are given out, and the village expects to see them die this morning.” (Miller, 1102) In saying this, Danforth means that he would rather see more innocent people hung than it be revealed that the people he already hung were innocent. This shows us that the situation is vastly out of hand, causing people to act in a way they otherwise would not. Another account from Arthur Miller explains that during the time of McCarthyism, he was asked to write the screenplay of a movie about gang violence