How are the Salem witch trials similar to McCarthyism and The crucible?

Question

What were some of the similarities of the salem witch trials and Mcarthyism all realted to The crucible, and how?

Answer 1

I think the question you are really asking is, "How does Arthur Miller, in his play, "The Crucible", portray the Salem witch trials as similar to the McCarthy hearings?"

That's not the same as simply asking how the two were, in fact, parallel. Why? Because Miller's work is NOT a work of history -- it is something he wrote to express his OWN viewpoint (specifically about McCarthy, whom he detested).

So treat it as a literary work, NOT a history text.

To begin with, note the importance to Miller's version of the adulterous affair between a 40ish John Proctor and 17-year old Abigail Williams. Minor historical problem -- there WAS no affair! When you discover that not only is there no historical evidence of such, but that Proctor was actually in his 60s, Abigail was on older than 11 in 1692 (and the affair would have happened earlier), it's all pretty obvious.

That's not to mention numerous other errors (deliberate or not) on very substantial matters, such as those about the beliefs of the Puritans (who were generally well-educated), esp. about their views on witchcraft (not a specifically Puritan belief but something common in Europe at that time), how such affairs were handled in New England (Salem was an aberration, charges were usually NOT lightly accepted, and deliberately false accusations were dealt with severely), and the role of Cotton Mather (who was not ever in Salem during the matter) and of the clergy in general. (Miller suggests the affair was an expression of "theocratic rule" --controlled by the clergy. But it was more a result, as witchcraft trials often were, of an fringe area NOT in control.)

Miller seems also not to have known about, or to have ignored such important matters as how the matter ended (when they stopped paying attention to "spectral evidence", partly at the urging of Increase Mather --Puritan pastor, father of Cotton) and all the work of apology, restoration and restitution to the families of those hurt, much of it by those who made the accusations ..

As for the McCarthy hearings -- the Senator himself was a blow-hard, excessive, etc. and brought disrepute on himself. But that does NOT mean that ALL of those looking into Communist sympathizers and agents in the U.S. government, etc. were simply paranoid. In fact, once the Soviet Union fell we found from their archives the names of people accused of being Soviet spies ... they actually WERE!!

So, based on what REALLY happened... well, the parallels aren't quite so neat after all.
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As for the question about the parallels MILLER draws (or creates)... yes, they are there, because that's what he intended. And from that viewpoint --of the STORY and NOT the HISTORY-- the answers others have given will work

( I DO hope your English lit teacher is making all this clear... but I'm afraid most are not aware of how UN-historical Miller is about BOTH events.)

Answer 2

Read the play, 'The Crucible' and rent the movie, 'Guilty by Suspicion.' By reading and viewing both, you should be able to formulate a good essay, by not relying on Yahoo answers.

Answer 3

Think about it. What did McCarthy do to people accused of communism? How does this compare to what was done to people accused of witchcraft? Among the similarities are accusations based only on personal reports and offering leniency for turning others in. There are a lot more, which you'll find in your research.

Answer 4

people were accused of doing something because of the fear at the time.

Answer 5

They're all taught together in Literature class; that's how they're related.
wink, wink.
Good luck with your studies.