Historical Backgrounds of The Crucible - Research Paper Example

McCarthy Hearing versus The Crucible Introduction The Crucible was written by Arthur Miller in 1952. It presents a drama of the Salem witch trials that happened in Massachusetts Bay between 1692 and 1693.The word Crucible has two meanings as used in this play. For instance, it refers to the ruthless struggles undergone by the Salem inhabitants and also means the integration of religious and secular facets of society during the time of the trial. The play was written as a symbol of McCarthyism a time when the American government blacklisted accused communists. The play, The Crucible shows a society which ignites and burns with allegations of witchcraft, reprisal and mass hysteria. The Crucible explores the fight of one man with his ethics, and his ultimate refinement, drawing parallels with the McCarthy Hearing through characters like John Proctor and Judge Danforth. Historical Backgrounds of The Crucible Miller gives a warning at the beginning of this play that The Crucible is not history but it is dependent on the storys historical events. This play presents two periods of the American history. The main period of this play lies in the 17th century, particularly during Salem Witch trials according to Burnet (57). Running parallel to these ancient events in the history of the United States are those that occurred in Miller’s own time on which the author figuratively comments. The author used this play to condemn the 1950s’ McCarthyism and the RED SCARE. He states that history repeats itself and thus there is the need to recognize it and in this case he repeats himself. He claims that McCarthyism was beyond the contemporary day witch hunt. Miller cautiously uses the historical information to form the basis for the play. The play uses the language of modern the 17th century religious customs, which he often employs, expresses the carefulness of his historical examine into the traditions of this period. Miller was interested in political matters, including socialism which had developed after the WW II after Russia’s socialist government became an important world power. McCarthy Historical Background The McCarthy hearing subcommittee was renamed after Senator Joseph McCarthy. Senator McCarthy went into the limelight of national interest in February 1950 with a speech delivered at Wheeling, West Virginia as suggested by Collins (97). At this time, McCarthy was in the final days of his first term as a senator and was in need of an immense issue to strengthen his run for the second term. A week before he gave his speech, China had fallen to the communist side and the USSR had developed an atomic bomb which was aimed at troubling the average citizens in America. Following this, Senator McCarthy was positioned on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee which was overseeing the government’s operations. McCarthy later became the subcommittee’s chairman in 1953 when its jurisdiction was majorly the enquiry of waste, immodesty, illegality and ineffectiveness of the United States’ government operations. However, McCarthy manipulated the duties of the new committee to persist in sweeping allegations of communist actions in the executive branch. McCarthy’s investigation of the United States Army contributed to his downfall in 1954 according to Miller and Abbtson (156).The Army-McCarthy hearings were shown on television nationally and the community withdrew from McCarthy’s discriminating tactics. Comparison of three Individuals in the McCarthy Hearing to three Individuals in the Crucible In comparing The Crucible and the McCarthy hearings, there are a lot of similarities in as far their characters are concerned. For example, Mr. McCarthy himself is compared to Judge Danforth and Abigail Williams in the crucible. This is because they both possess similar traits whereby Danforth and Abigail were the most corrupt characters in The Crucible a trait portrayed by McCarthy in the McCarthy hearings. McCarthy is being corrupt in during his run for the senator position as he bribes people in order to give him their votes. He is also depicted as corrupt in the way he gets innocent people to jail in accusation that they fall under the communist group. Similarly Judge Danforth and Abigail present corrupt traits in the way the make innocent people suffer at their expense. For instance, Abigail accuses John’s wife of witch craft so that she can get John for herself. On the other hand, Danforth is more submissive to the law such that he does not want to release any of the prisoners even if they were found to be innocent. Another similarity of characters is that of the two cronies in the McCarthy’s committee who are comparable to Reverent Paris of The Crucible. Both characters of the different cases posses experience fear out of panic. For instance, reverent Paris after realizing the extensive corruption and misuse of trials, he convinces people to cheat by confessing and live instead of telling reality and die. Similarly, the two cronies in McCarthy convince people to accept what they have not done in the fear that they will get killed. They present innocent people for trial in the fear that if they do not do so they will be accused of betraying the government. On the same note, Arthur Miller in McCarthy is compared to John Proctor, the tragic hero, of The Crucible. Both miller and proctor experienced the injustice of the evil society. Miller wrote the The Crucible at a time when the U.S. was facing a similar crisis. He was accused by his people and so experienced the injustice of the evil society. Miller was accused of being a communist and had to face trial. Similarly John Proctor’s wife was accused of being a witch which indirectly affected Proctor as he was blamed for what his wife faced. Abigail took Proctor’s wife to court and when Proctor tried to command the release of his wife, he was also jailed innocently thus experiencing the evils of the unjust society. On the same note, Arthur miller and John proctor are presented as the most realistic characters in the McCarthy Hearing and The Crucible respectively. For instance, Arthur miller realized the despair which was faced by the Americans and this helped him write the play The Crucible in order to make aware the next generation. John Proctor on the other hand realized that Abigail wanted to separate him from his wife; he says that Abigail “hopes to dance with me upon my wife’s grave” according to Bly and Miller (112). McCarthy is also compared to Abigail of The Crucible where both of them are seen to be feeding on the fears of the general public and led by their humanistic emotions. Both McCarthy and Abigail had a humble background, where they could only control themselves, and rose to a point where they had control over any person they pleased. Just like Abigail was left dishonoured by everyone in the society, so was McCarthy whose struggle of the situation later crumbled leaving him dishonoured by the society. This trait is also comparable to the common trait of the modern politicians who use tactics like blackmail to rise to power and for their own benefit while neglecting the needs of society. McCarthy and Abigail are also comparable in terms of being greedy and ignorant. Abigail wants to take Elizabeth’s husband, John Proctor, and wants him for herself hence she ends up accusing Elizabeth of witchcraft as suggested by Hammer (24). This shows how greedy she is as she tries to get what is not meant for her. This also presents her as one who is inconsiderate of other people’s feelings. These traits are also expressed in McCarthy, he wants everything for himself and in order to ensure this, he accuses innocent citizens of communist followers. He is also ignorant of the people’s feelings and his actions might affect his political life hence he later faces downfall. McCarthy is also compared to Danforth of The Crucible for their being unkind. For instance, Danforth argues that a person is either agreeing t the courts judgement or against it. This shows how he was inconsiderate of other people’s views. Similarly, McCarthy’s unkindness is seen where he falsely accuses innocent people in order to gain the favour of the government. Conclusion Humanistic feelings, greed, ignorance, unkindness, fear, injustice and corruption are some of the most portrait traits by the characters of both The Crucible play and the McCarthy hearings according to Graham (127). These traits are seen as the elements which influence the evilness of the society full of accusations and persecutions. These elements are still experienced in the modern world especially when people chose to benefit themselves at the expense of others in what has come to be known as the ‘Man eat Man Society’. Looking at what happens in both cases, it is clearly true to argue that “power”(power based on the evil: Abigail-witchcraft and McCarthy-politics) is and the ability to influence it on others is the major drive of human life. For instance the main characters that are Abigail and McCarthy have the “power” to get what they want from other in the society. The element of fear is important in both cases, this is because it is the society fear of the powerful that drives them to accepting what is evil in order for them to survive without threats. Generally, the same situations experienced in both cases are still experienced in the modern society. Works cited Bly, Wiliam. & Miller, Arthur. Arthur Millers The Crucible. NewYork: Barrons Educational Series. 1984. Print. Burnet, Eric. 21st Century Voices. New York: iUniverse. 2003. Print. Collins, Mabel. The Crucible.Whitefish, Montana: Kessinger Publishing. 1998. Print. Miller, Arthur. & Abbtson, Susan. The Crucible. London: A&C Black. 2010. Print. Graham, Sarah. J.D. Salingers The Catcher in the Rye. London: Routledge. 2007. Print. Hammer, Kristin. The Dual Historical Context of Arthur Millers "The Crucible". Munich: GRIN Verlag. 2011. Print. Read More