ARTHUR MILLER, SALEM AND COMMUNISM

In this paper I am going to talk about the relations between the Salem witch trials and the Cold War. Covering this with evidence and facts about the theme. I think that this is a fair comparison and is very interesting what they have in common.

In 1953, the play called “The Crucible” written by Arthur Miller created hysteria in all parts of the country. This play describes the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 and the irony of a terrible period of American history.

Arthur Miller intended to break the fear of the cold war and respond to Senator McCarthy and Communism. The play was a metaphor for the red scare. The red scare was during 1947-1956 and is also called McCarthyism.

The author compares the unjustness of the Salem witch trails and the McCarthy trials were in both, people were accused and executed.

Another comparison between The Crucible and McCarthyism is that in both people were guilty of believe. In The Crucible, people who believed or practice witchcraft were executed and in McCarthyism the ones who believed or participate in Communism were guilty of belief.

Another association between McCarthyism and the play is that after Miller wrote The Crucible, he was called to answer some questions about the names of person who had been seen in the meetings of Communist Party. (Burns). However, he refused to do it. This is very similar to the fourth act of the play when Proctor is asked who the devil when he saw him and he do not said any names of his friends. He just reveals his sins.

In 1956, Arthur Miller was denied to have a passport to Brussels, and he was called before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. This Committee wanted to defend and make the constitution better. The Congress asks Arthur Miller for the names of the people that he had been with in the Communist meetings, but he refused to tell the names. They wanted those names to put them on the blacklist.

The blacklist was employ in the period of “Red Scare”. The people who were in the blacklist were disreputable by the society and were not able to get a job in some areas.

The McCarthyism refers to any chasing of people accused for any porpoise. McCarthyism gets the name from the Senator Joseph R. McCarthy; he was a republican from Wisconsin. He was known for his communism headlines and comments about infiltrating in different organizations. What really make him famous is when he suddenly announced ha had a list of 205 communist in the State Department. And for the first time the society could watch all this in television, this makes a bigger scandal. (Edwards)

Society was also preoccupied because the McCarthyism plays an important role in the education in universities. Students that refused to cooperate with Anti-Communist were not able to have academics opportunities as scholarships.

In the World War II, United States and the Soviet Union were allied. But is very strange how they quickly separated and the created the Cold War. (Rovere)

Word Count: 516