Witch or Communist?
Imagine a town that thrived on mass hysteria, functioned with chaos, and exploited death. Welcome to Salem, Massachusetts, 1692. Salam was most notoriously known for the Salem witch trials. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, he wrote about the events of the witch trials, but the play had a much more serious underlying meaning.
Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as a representation of the Red Scare in the 1950s, which greatly affected America and ultimately his career. As a writer, he was accused of communism, and it cost him his career.
The United States government in the 1950’s had a complete loss of control. The
Red Scare was a time when a small suspicion could lead to the destruction of someone's life. In the 1950’s, …show more content…
Arthur Miller lost his entire career based on unproven accusations and a chaotic government, not unlike the character, John Proctor in The Crucible who lost his life as a
Henrichs, Gabrielle result of false accusations during a time of mass hysteria. In The Crucible, the court
(equivalent to a government) had absolutely no control and condemned people to hang based on little or no evidence. Many people lost their lives and/or their “good names” in the community. No one was safe against suspicion of witchcraft, and if they were charged with witchcraft, they had no opportunity to prove they were innocent. A quote from Arthur Miller’s “Why I Wrote the Crucible” described how he felt during the Red Scare accusations, “Nobody but a fanatic, it seemed, could really say all that he believed.” Arthur Miller expressed his feelings through John Proctor in The
Crucible. Mr. Proctor was perceived as a “threat” to the court--an insane man--because he spoke the truth and saw the injustice around him. Arthur Miller had to face his accusations with a small plea of innocence, but the damage had been done the
Imagine a town that thrived on mass hysteria, functioned with chaos, and exploited death. Welcome to Salem, Massachusetts, 1692. Salam was most notoriously known for the Salem witch trials. In Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, he wrote about the events of the witch trials, but the play had a much more serious underlying meaning.
Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as a representation of the Red Scare in the 1950s, which greatly affected America and ultimately his career. As a writer, he was accused of communism, and it cost him his career.
The United States government in the 1950’s had a complete loss of control. The
Red Scare was a time when a small suspicion could lead to the destruction of someone's life. In the 1950’s, …show more content…
Arthur Miller lost his entire career based on unproven accusations and a chaotic government, not unlike the character, John Proctor in The Crucible who lost his life as a
Henrichs, Gabrielle result of false accusations during a time of mass hysteria. In The Crucible, the court
(equivalent to a government) had absolutely no control and condemned people to hang based on little or no evidence. Many people lost their lives and/or their “good names” in the community. No one was safe against suspicion of witchcraft, and if they were charged with witchcraft, they had no opportunity to prove they were innocent. A quote from Arthur Miller’s “Why I Wrote the Crucible” described how he felt during the Red Scare accusations, “Nobody but a fanatic, it seemed, could really say all that he believed.” Arthur Miller expressed his feelings through John Proctor in The
Crucible. Mr. Proctor was perceived as a “threat” to the court--an insane man--because he spoke the truth and saw the injustice around him. Arthur Miller had to face his accusations with a small plea of innocence, but the damage had been done the