Impact of the Era of McCarthyism on The Crucible by Arthur Miller: Analytical Essay

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Impact of the Era of McCarthyism on The Crucible by Arthur Miller: Analytical Essay

In times of fear, people look to a person to help guide and lead them. Because of all the attention, that person’s voice becomes a powerful tool that can change the views of many. The play, The Crucible, written by Auther Miller, was the story set in Massachusetts Bay Colony during 169293 focusing on the Salem Witch Trials. The Crucibles main antagonist, Abigail Williams, is an orphan girl of 17 years. She becomes obsessed with power after she and some other young girls in her town begin crying witch to the women and men of their village. Abigail originally called her elderly black slave servant, Tituba, a witch, to save her name after she and the other girls were caught in the woods dancing. At this time, it was considered a sin to dance in a Puritan society. The author of the play, Auther Miller, wrote the play in the 1950s, during the Era of McCarthyism. McCarthyism, in the 1950s, was when Senator Joseph McCarthy took charge of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the Senate and charged many America with being communists during the Cold War. The play shows heavy similarities between the Salem Witch Trials and the anti-communist crazed McCarthy who had taken control of America with his words of fear. The main similarities both the Salem Witch Trial in The Crucible and the McCarthyism Era in the 1950s were that both were spearheaded by one main person searching for power, the mass hysteria in the people brought on by the antagonists, and the fact that both were targeting certain stereotypes of people, resulting in both Abigail and Senator McCarthy wielding too much power and causing the convention and death of many.

The Cold War, in the 1950s, between the United States of America and the Soviet Union, caused many Americans to be on edge and fearful of a nuclear war between the two countries. A nuclear war would mean the end of the human race as we know it, so due to their fear, they looked to a man who they thought was willing to do something, Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin. He was the head of the House Un-American Activities Committee in congress and was tasked with finding communists within the United States. The committee called citizens to testify in high-profile hearings before Congress using subpoenas.. Senator McCarthy used this power to boost his name into the news and convince many Americans that their government was filled with spies and traitors. Just as McCarthy, Abigail Williams saw an opportunity to take control of a situation and gain power. The village of Salem was going mad with the news of witches and they wasted no time to see the names of people they wished to be gone. Abigail used this to propel herself to become the most popular witness to witchcraft. Elizabeth tells us of the power she gained when she said. It shows how the town listened to her every word and believed it as though it was fact. Both Abigail and McCarthy the fear of their time to become a powerful symbol. Abigail deep down probably just wanted a say in the world, because, in Puritan society, women had little to no say at all in what was happening. Joseph McCarthy wanted to power to become a voice to the people, because for him, you either had power, or you were nothing.

In both the village of Salem in the play and the United States as a whole during the McCarthy Era, people were scared for their lives. Everyone was in a state of mass hysteria. People didnt know if they could trust their neighbors, because of the fear that they might have secretly made a compact with the devil, just as the people in America at the time did not know whether or not their neighbor might secretly be a communist. A great parallel between the two is Rosenberg Trial in 1951 and the accusation of Elizabeth and John Proctor being witches. The Rosenberg Trial was when Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were accused of selling nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. The only direct evidence in the case that supported the Rosenbergs guilt was Juliuss brother-in-law, David Greenglasss confession. However, many people to this day still believe that the confession was false and believe that Greenglass lied in court just to save himself. After the trials, the Rosenbergs were offered a deal in which their death sentences would be commuted in return for an admission of their guilt. They refused and were sent to death in the electric chair. This is very similar to what happened to Elizabeth and John Proctor. Both John and Elizabeth were accused of witchcraft, while Elizabeth confessed to it, John refused to confess, and with Mary Warren’s testimony that she saw John with the devil, which we now know is also false, John was then sentenced to death. David Greenglass and Mary Warren choose themselves over the truth, both secretly wanting the power and good name that came with the false testimony. This shows that because of the time and fear within people, possibly innocent people were sentenced to death. Some of the villagers in Salem cried witch because they wanted to gain more land, others because they were looking to give blame for one reason or another. An example of that was when Thomas Putnum named Rebecca Nurse a witch to get revenge on Francis Nurse, her husband, due to him preventing Thomass brother from becoming a minister. The horror in the air allowed evil men and women to convince the mass that someone innocent may be guilty of a crime they never committed. This resulted in the death of many, innocent of any crime, all due to someone speaking their name with little to no proof to support the claim.

No matter the time in history, there is always a group of people who are oppressed and attacked whether it be due to beliefs, gender, or social class. In The Crucible when Abigail first names Tituba a witch, she didnt choose her for no reason, Abigail was smart and chose her because of her low social class as a female black slave. Tituba would have an almost impossible chance at proving herself innocent, sense she was accused by a respect white lady in the Puritan society. Realizing this, Tituba admits to being a witch, knowing she would die if she didnt confess. Tituba also names Goody Good, along with Goody Osburn, claiming she saw them with the devil. By doing this, Tituba becomes somewhat of an asset to the church sense she has seen those women with the devil. Reverend Hale goes to say how (tituba was sent by god&.). The people of Salem believed Tituba when she named Goody Good and Goody Osburn because they were already had the reputation of being an outcast to society, low class, and they did not do as most Purtan women did in the 1690s in New England. Because of this, it was easy for the court along with the people of Salem to believe them as possible witches eventually leading to their deaths. This is also a reflection of what was happening while Auther Miller was writing the play in the 1950s. HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) was in a mad hunt for communists and the committee had a special interest in Hollywood and the motion picture industry, which HUAC believed to have a large number of Communists. With fear circulating, many Hollywood film studios put out blacklists against directors, writers, actors and other personnel implicated in Communist activity. The biggest investigation being when the Hollywood Ten were called to testify in October 1947. All of the ten directors and writers involved were sentenced to prison and blacklisted after being cited for contempt in congress. Hollywood was an easy target for HUAC because it had a large population of people who had joined the Communist Party prior to World War II and the conflicts with the Soviet Union. Most if not all had nothing to do with the conflicts of the time, but they were a big, easy target for Senator McCarthy and HUAC because of their big names in the movie industry along with their past with the Communist Party. This goes to show, just as in Salem, certain groups were targeted due to their social standing and status. These groups became an excuse for the courts/government groups and an easy way to convict people who the rest of the population could believe to be guilty.

Auther Miller, while writing The Crucible, shows the troubles of McCarthyism time and time again in his work. Both McCarthyism and The Crucible have one main antagonist feeding off their newfound power, mass hysteria and fear in their country/town, and both show ways on how a group or minority of people can become the main target for attacks and convictions. In Salem, eventually the settlers started to question the authenticity of the girls claims, realizing things had escalated belonged the point of reasoning and that it was time to come to the facts. Just as people in the US started to realize that Senator McCarthy was beginning to take things too far after McCarthy claimed that the US Army was infiltrated with communists. In the end, as we look back on history, we can see how mass fear and distrust can lead to disastrous things being drawn way out of proportion ending in life’s being ruined and in the worst cases death. Showing the similarities between the McCarthyism Era and his work, Auther Miller, does a phenomenal job of connecting present-day problems with the problem the generations before us faced and making us realize that we should learn from the past, not repeat it.

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