The Crucible vs. The Red Scare
In the future, how would you feel if your childhood was used as an allegory to criticize the current time? This would be just like how Miller used his story The Crucible as an allegory to criticize The Red scare and McCarthyism. Miller compared The Red Scare and the Salem witch trials to show how the death and lies of the witch trials completely shows the unjust times for those accused for being a communist during the Red Scare.
During the mid-1900’s a fear was sweeping the nation. This fear is known as The Red Scare. At the time of The Red Scare, people feared that communist were going to take over the United States. Americans not only feared the Soviet Union, but they worried that communists were infiltrating the government in an attempt to overthrow America. One term that was also used use during this time was McCarthyism. This was fueled when Senator Joseph McCarthy. He accused many people of being disloyal to the United States. McCarthy even accused President Eisenhower of treason. McCarthyism signifies the extreme anti-Communist movement that occurred in the United States. Another extreme anti-Communist group was the House Un-American Activities Committee. They investigated several group and organization because they believed that they conducting communist activities. They even investigated film industry in Hollywood.
The story The Crucible parallels The Red Scare. The biggest parallel is between Abigail Williams and Joseph McCarthy. Abby would accuse anyone and everyone of witchcraft that appears to have crossed her. This is not unlike how Joseph accused many people of being communist. Both people’s claims were proven wrong at the end of their respected scares. Another parallel in both stories is that both people accused their leaders. Abby accused the head judge of being associated with the devil which is not too distant for Joseph accusing President Eisenhower of being a communist.
The way that Miller used the...