The Crucible Versus McCarthyism: A Comparative Analysis

Throughout the early 1690s in Salem, Massachusetts, witch trials took location. Salem was a Puritan society at the time, which meant that there was a strict moral code that encompassed Puritan life-style. The notion of the Devil brought worry to Puritans as properly as the act of witchcraft, taking into account that Puritans have been very religious. In the year of 1938 HUAC, Property of Un-American Activities Committee, was established. HUAC took to investigating particular groups of people for the duration of the time of the Cold War in order to uncover people suspected of getting a portion of the Communist celebration. HUAC brought about mass hysteria due to the worry of communism by employing particular techniques. There have been public hearings in which witnesses had been forced to offer information or names of these who have been possible communists. The Hollywood Ten consisted of renowned screenwriters, directors, and producers who have been blacklisted so that they wouldn’t be in a position to discover perform.

In addition, the events which occurred for the duration of the Salem witch trials as demonstrated in The Crucible are very related to these of the McCarthy era. Accusations took location with very tiny proof in each events. In The Crucible, people were accused of being witches and carrying out the Devil’s perform, although men and women had been accused of becoming communists in the McCarthy era. John Proctor and Rebecca Nurse have been properly-respected men and women in the Salem neighborhood who were accused of witchcraft, in spite of their excellent reputations. Joseph McCarthy accused people of getting communists with no paying heed to whether his accusations were accurate or not. Also, Reputations had been hindered in both situations. John Proctor’s reputation was very critical to him, and he knew that it would impact his sons negatively when he was sentenced to hang. Hollywood screenwriters who were blacklisted had to function below false names.

With that in thoughts, the themes of The Crucible can be observed in certain social troubles that take place in the world right now. One of these themes is naming names, in which the accused takes the focus or blame off of themselves by calling others out. This theme can be demonstrated in the act of bullying, in which the bully can harm somebody and then blame yet another individual without having anybody being aware of. At the end of Act One in The Crucible, Abigail Williams, Tituba, and Betty Parris confess to witchcraft, but name names of other people they had seen with the Devil in order to protect themselves. Yet another theme noticed in the play is that of hysteria. There was wonderful hysteria in the Salem neighborhood with the threat of witchcraft. Despite the fact that folks had been in a position to get out of problems by naming names, those who didn’t confess to witchcraft have been assumed to be witches. These days, terrorist attacks and mass shootings would naturally arouse worry in the public. In a distinct aspect, political correctness can bring about fear of offending somebody or making use of the incorrect word decision.