Paranoia In The Crucible

As Hunter S. Thompson simply put, "Paranoia is just another word for ignorance."The Crucible by Arthur Miller, shows the ignorance of a society that has surrendered all rationality to a frenzy of hysteria and paranoia. The Crucible is a play based on the Puritan lifestyle of the colonial ages, where the accusations of witchcraft are directed at certain individuals, primarily initiated by Abigail Williams, bringing upon the downfall of social structure and practicalities of the Salem witch trials. Miller crafts a tale as an allegory to the "Red Scare" of Senator McCarthy over communists in the nineteenth century. In the play, The Crucible, Arthur Miller illustrates the elements that precipitate to the loss of innocent lives in the Salem Witch …show more content…
Although the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials seems ironic in comparison to the rightous, law-abiding, and seemingly level-headed demeanor of the Puritan society, the Puritans justify the hysteria through the fear and conformity among themselves and for their neighbors. For instance, Abigail reminds Salem of the mistrust, " I have been hurt, Mr. Danforth; I have seen my blood runnin’ out! I have been near to murdered every day because I done my duty pointing out the Devil’s people - and this is my reward? To be mistrusted, denied, questioned like a .."(46) Abigail William's accusations and convincing plea for accusing the Puritan's neighbor and families fuel a fear for isolation and condemnation. Miller, however, presents the paradoxical nature of the society's accusations: the Puritans trust one another's judgment of blind accusations without legitimate evidence, but mistrust one another for potentially being involved in witchcraft. This irony is undoubtedly the result of the sociological interaction between the Puritans, which is fear of nonconformity or isolation; a factor in the outbreak of the hysteria and paranoia of the Salem witch trials. In addition, Miller solidifies the Puritan's conformity and fear among each other in his article, "Why I wrote the …show more content…
Millers allow the reader to fully comprehend the great role sociology played in the outbreak of the hysteria in the Salem witch trials. Through the collapse of moral absolutism and rationality in the Puritan society by the end of the trials and the loss of the numerous innocent lives, Miller shows the audience the devastating consequences of sociological failures of the Puritan society. In a sense, Miller's play allows the audience to comprehend the tragedies and problems of others into their own lives. Tragedies like this show us the sudden impulses and social fear that drive people. Social issues such as greed, need for excessive power, and fear of isolation drive insanity. From the awful ethnic cleansing in our history such as The Holocaust to regimes such as Stalin's Russia or Mao's China has shown us how society's innate belief of conformity, corruption, and power has fueled insanity and hysteria. Society has been repeatedly led by the elements of societal constraints, justification of society's nature and fear of isolation and the significance of the social