The Crucible And The Red Scare Essay

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The Crucible > The Red Scare

“...141 people imprisoned, 19 people executed, and two more died from other causes directly related to the investigations.” (Callis, “The Aftermath of The Salem Witch Trials in Colonial America”). The Communist Red-Scare (Began in September 1945 when the U.S. and Canada thought that the Soviet Union was going to infiltrate our government with the idea of obtaining information about the atomic bomb.) and The Crucible/Salem Witch Trials (A wave of hysteria overtook the town of Salem, almost everyone, young and old, was accused of being a witch. They were almost always put to death.) are both widely known for the number of innocent people who were wrongly accused and the accusers of their times. For only
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Although they share similar details, The Salem Witchcraft Trials and the Communist Red Scare are both things that we, as people, often do not like to think too much about as being part of our past. Part of that being that there were many false accusations made on people who were wholly innocent in their actions during times in the Salem Witchcraft Trials. People who were accused were urged to confess even if they were innocent. (Miller, Beers, and Odell 1233). As they were urged to confess, peer pressure became a major issue. We’ve seen this in the story, The Crucible written by Arthur Miller, Dr.Kylene Beers and Dr.Lee Odell, with one of the young girls Mary Warren, and the other girls accused during this time. She’s pressured to follow the girls examples so that she may be accepted into their social circle. “Popular support began to fade.” (Abrams 550). As often seen, people were starting to realize how irrational their own personal fears were. People were having the realization that others around them were having their entire lives ruined because they were being falsely accused of witchcraft with no real physical evidence against them. The same can be seen in The Communist Red scare where a large amount of false accusations are made on …show more content…
Maybe for all the right reasons, but maybe not all the same. Throughout The Crucible/Salem Witchcraft Trials you see how people wrongly accused others for their own personal gain and benefits. ”The town’s gone wild.” (Miller, Beers, and Odell 1237). The town had gone wild with new accusations against the innocent and thus people were gaining power over others. Abigail was quickly gaining power over the other girls as ringleader. Since She was the one who kind of started it all, the girls looked to her as a leader, and for orders as to what to do in a situation as rare as theirs. “But the proof, the proof!” (Miller, Beers, and Odell 1240). Abigail was using Tituba’s spiritual rituals as a way to get to John Proctor. Meaning that Tituba had told Abigail that she could call upon the spirits to help her be with John. The accusations are once again passed on though. Once the girls have been caught, Abigail wants the blame off of her and onto someone else’s shoulder so she throws it onto

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