In what sense is ones understanding of the anti-communist purges of the McCarthy era enhanced through the study of Arthur Millers The Crucible?

by yjj95520 (student)

International Baccalaureate World Literature

Wendy Yang IB Englsih 11 Period 3 “In what sense is one’s understanding of the anti-communist “purges” of the McCarthy era enhanced through the study of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible? McCarthy era was a period of time during the 1940s and 1950s when communist Soviet Union and republic United Sates were at Cold War with each other. The similarity and allegorical relationship between The Crucible and McCarthyism are important aspects in understanding the play. During this time in history, the Soviet Union was growing in power

This is a preview of the whole essay

along with her nuclear weapons and advance in satellite technology. US government became gradually paranoid because of the constant threat caused by Soviet Union and her communist allies such as China. A similar paranoia was demonstrated in the play by the setting of the village of Salem in the midst of the dark forest, which was considered to be ruled directly by the devil. The play showed that the Soviet was a threat upon US with the evil spirits representing communism. Another similarity is that Joseph McCarthy, US Senator at the time, claimed more than two hundred people in the State Department to be members of the American Communist Party. He had no substantial proof of his claims but this did not prevent him from arresting these “communists” because of the anti-Communist fervour and public and media’s fear that opposition could cause themselves be arrested as Communists. Similarly, delusional girls claimed the innocent citizens in Salem to be witches without evident proof of such accusations. The play enhanced the reader’s understanding of the McCarthy era by demonstrating the public’s failure to object such unreasonable accusations due to the fear of being accused of witchcraft. The accused members in the State Department were assumed guilty and to be put on trials and confess while reveal the names of other communists. A resemblance of this situation was shown in the play when Salem witches were coerced by hanging to confess and divulge their fellows to be involved in witchcraft. These unsubstantial accusations not only caused the loss of many innocent lives, but also increased the internal hostility, anxiety and fear among villagers in Salem and citizens in US. The witch-hunt in both Salem and McCarthy era were phenomenon that demonstrated fanaticism. Our incapability to reason and terminate these events before resulting in irreversible outcomes brings us to question – will we learn from our tragic past or is it just our human nature to behave as we did during the McCarthy era? Works Cited Arthur Miller McCarthy [Online] // American Master PBS. - August 23, 2006. - Feburary 7, 2012. - http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/arthur-miller/mccarthyism/484/.