Crucible
The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, is a dramatic re-enactment of the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts. Arthur Miller intended to use the Salem Witch Trials as an allegory about his relatable experience during the McCarthyism period. He did so by making a few small changes to the history and creating parallels in the play with racism, human tendencies, and H.U.A.C.
Paranoia towards communism also broke out, resulting in many people becoming very afraid of communists and would have done anything to stifle their power. The House Un-American Activities Committee (H.U.A.C.), was an organization that was responsible for finding and persecuting communists. Led by Joseph McCarthy, the committee hunted down many perspective communists, Arthur Miller was among the persecuted. He refused to give the court any information because he saw McCarthy as a fraud. “The Crucible” was seen as his opinion against H.U.A.C. and McCarthy. In both situations, people were persecuted based on allusions, and they could only clear their names by accusing others of the same crime. Miller could see that it was a vicious cycle, and he was able to make a connection between the events from both time periods.
An extreme example of authority within the crucible is the church’s power over each member of the community is what precipitates the downfall of the community as everyones desire to maintain their positive association with the church (due to its extreme influence withing society)
Today, society can learn from both of those incidents through Miller’s attempt to create moral awareness for society by showing history tends to repeat itself, and society has not outgrown its witch hunting days.