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The Allegories Of Mccarthyism In Miller And The Crucible By Arthur Miller

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The Former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said, “A trial without witnesses, when it involves a criminal accusation, a criminal matter, is not a true trial” (“Accusation Quotes”). This quote relates to all the untrue allegations of the McCarthyism cases and the book The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. McCarthyism was led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, they were accusations made by him during the 1950s against people that had a chance of being a communist. In the book, The Crucible, Abigail Williams, the main antagonist, was not necessarily looking for witches, but she would make it appear that other people were witches. The Salem Witch Trials took place in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 1600s. Both situations are allegories for one another, …show more content…
First off, in The Crucible the Puritans are all about God and they are afraid of him (and going against Him-Hell, devil, witches) and they do not want the evil to spread. McCarthyism also relates to this because the country was afraid of the communism spreading throughout the country, the Red Scare. Next, as a result of being scared this lead to them being afraid of being accused. In The Crucible people would blame others in order for them not to be accused. For example Abigail said, “I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osbourn...Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (Miller 48). During McCarthyism, McCarthy would blame people of being a communist and they would be accused of it and sometimes they would lose their jobs (“Joseph R. McCarthy”). Thirdly, each society is not willing to stand up for others. The townspeople in The Crucible would want the good people of their town to die just because they were accused of being a witch. For example, Mary Warren was originally lying then John Proctor convinced her to tell the truth, but then as she is telling the truth she switches her story by saying that Proctor is making her say these things, “Let me go, Mr. Proctor, I cannot, I cannot--” (Miller 109). During the early 1950s, McCarthyism had the media against the people being accused and everything was sided to the accuser not the defendant. In conclusion, from general fear to being scared …show more content…
Both The Crucible and McCarthyism had their fair share of unfair trials. These trials nowadays would be looked at as a “criminal matter”. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, and McCarthyism, led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, share the similarities between the antagonists, the societies, and the justice systems. In conclusion, The Crucible and McCarthyism have a strong allegory between the

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