The Crucible Mccarthyism Analysis

The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, was inspired by the McCarthy hearings in 1950 and also the Salem Witch Trials during 1692. The play starts off with the discovery of several young girls and a slave dancing in the woods attempting to conjure spirits of the dead. Rather than suffer severe punishment for their actions, the girls accuse the other inhabitants of the town, Salem, for practicing witchcraft, which is ironic because the girls got out of being punished by accusing others of the crime they were guilty of. As a result, this caused the citizens of Salem to go in a mass state of paranoia and fear in the atmosphere where everyone in Salem could be a potential witch, which caused the number of arrests to increase and the community losing their trust in one another. By the end of 1692, the Salem Court convicted and …show more content…
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence. This political idea is similar to The Crucible because Salem established itself as a religious community in the midst of evil, which was surrounded by forest. Salemites, the citizens of Salem, considered the forest the domain of the devil which caused paranoia to be ensued. Another political impact was the delusional girls making unsubstantiated claims about the existence of witches in Salem, which they had no proof of, in result claiming lives causing hostility to increase in Salem. There is also a political reference with The doll found on Elizabeth Proctor's shelf is a traditional symbol of voodoo and witchcraft. In The Crucible, the doll symbolizes the transformation of good to evil, while dolls, in a normal society, represent childhood innocence and bring happiness. This extends to the Puritan government and church, both being entrusted to protect its citizens, yet both doing the