Mccarthyism And Allegory In Arthur Miller's The Crucible

Throughout the whole of history, especially that of modernity, people have been blaming others, even their own neighbors, for their problems. Arthur Miller lived in a time of monumental hysteria. The “Red Scare” devoured the lives of many innocent Americans, effectively destroying many reputations. Miller lived in a time of deceit and lies, and so therefore took it upon himself to share his own story through the story of people that were once in a similar state to his own. The novel The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller as an allegory to support his own opinions about McCarthyism and how the “Red Scare” was wrongfully impacting many innocent lives. In the 1950s, communism was on the rise in many nations, and most Americans were strictly …show more content…
The 1690s was a time of absolute faith for many people. All it took was a small string of problems for one to blame the devil for negative events that took place in their lives. Like communism, witchcraft was an ever-so-feared subject not only because of its then-obvious presence, but also because of what its accusation could do to one’s life. Anyone could be accused of witchcraft even with the absence of any tangible or sensible evidence whatsoever, and they were then damned to hang unless they confessed. After someone was accused, their reputation was forever damaged and destroyed by the mob of senseless people who blindly followed the …show more content…
Using the true story of the Salem witch trials, Miller writes in direct comparison to his own time period. It is evident that the situations in the 1690s and 1950s were extremely similar; therefore, by writing to show how the witchcraft accusations were unfounded and unintelligent, he helped to prove the same about McCarthyism. It is possible to compare many real-life people from the height of McCarthyism to those from The Crucible. The most obvious comparison begins with Arthur Miller and John Proctor from The Crucible. John Proctor opposes the frenzy of supposed witchery in Salem and sees past the lies, and is condemned for it. Similarly, Arthur Miller was smart enough to realize that McCarthyism was illegitimate, and he himself was also questioned by the United States government, just as Proctor was by the court. Also, Senator Joseph McCarthy could be compared to Abigail Williams from The Crucible. McCarthy begun the whole McCarthyism hysteria for his own fame, just as Abigail started the witchcraft scare for her own self-preservation. The United States government followed along with McCarthy and continued to condemn many different people of being communists, just as the high court, which included the characters of Judge Danforth and Judge Hathorne, went along with Abigail and condemned many witches in The