In 1692 two girls from Salem accused people in their town of witchcraft. Around 1950 Joseph McCarthy, a senator from the US, accused people of supporting communism. Both events led to the scrutiny of innocent people. Trials were held and raised havoc in what use to be peaceful nations.
In a time when terrorism is a threat, it becomes easy for people to accuse others of terrorism with little evidence. Most people can try and justify what they are doing, but when presented with the thought that their actions greatly resemble the McCarthy trials or even the Salem witchcraft trials, they stand there speechless. Arthur Miller did a great job of showing this point of view to the public with his play The Crucible.
Miller was an extremely gifted writer. Growing up during the Great Depression, Miller was forced to face the hardships of life early on. Miller uses many of his life's adventures to write his plays and novels.
Joseph Raymond McCarthy. Español: Este personaje ...
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem, OregonOne of his most well known pieces is The Crucible. "Although it depicts the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 the play was inspired by Miller's belief that the hysteria surrounding the witchcraft trials paralleled the contemporary political climate of McCarthyism - Senator Joseph McCarthy's obsessive quest to uncover the communist infiltration of American institutes (Prentice Hall pg 1032 )". Directly after World War II a communist scare began. People were accused even if they had a friend who was a communist believer. "Many people were inquired due to attending a function or dinner held by a communist supporter, Miller ... just happened to attend one of those functions and was soon asked to appear before a Grand Jury" (Altomare). During the McCarthy trials people were wrongly accused and often coaxed into giving false confessions and testimonies. "Those accused...