What Are The Similarities Between The Crucible And On The Waterfront

Many characters in On the Waterfront, a movie directed by Elia Kazan, and The Crucible, a play written by Arthur Miller, parallel each other; however, in both works the creator takes an opposite stance portraying them. The mob in On the Waterfront parallels those accused of witchcraft in The Crucible, Charley Malloy is a parallel to Elizabeth Proctor, and Johnny Friendly is a parallel to John Proctor. Each of these characters are in a similar position to their parallel, however they are perceived as good or bad based on the work in which they are found. Through the lens of On the Waterfront, communists and those who protect them are portrayed in a negative way. The mob symbolizes communists because they harbor dangerous people and try to prevent others from turning them in to the police. The mob is clearly portrayed as negative in this movie which is reflective of Kazan’s own views on communism, which are also clear through his betrayal of …show more content…
The way that the movie describes the mob is as a bad group of people who are manipulative and greedy and who hide their true intentions. All of these qualities were reasons that people feared communists. The mob symbolizes everything that anti-communists hated and feared in communists. Since the hero of the movie, Terry Malloy, turned the mob in to the crime commission at the end of the movie, it garners sympathy for those who gave names to HUAC and demonstrates Kazan’s beliefs that it is right to turn communists in to the police. In contrast, in the play The Crucible those who betray communists and turn them in are portrayed in a negative light. Those who were accused of witchcraft and hanged were depicted as victims of an unfair situation. Those who falsely accuse others of