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Similarities Between Mccarthyism And The Crucible

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Similarities Between Mccarthyism And The Crucible
McCarthyism and The Crucible

Arthur Miller`s The Crucible is a timeless classic of witchcraft that is rooted in accusations and political motives. The crucible is set during the Salem witch trails and it centers on a young girl, Abigail Williams, and her quest to meet all of her selfish desires. A group of girls, led by Abigail accuse town people of witchcraft to cover up the fact that they were dancing in the forest. She eventually blames Elizabeth Proctor for witchcraft, so she will have Elizabeth`s husband, John for herself. Trials are conducted and many non-guilty people are convicted and killed. Miller`s drama was inspired by his own involvement in the House Un-American Committee trials during the McCarthy period. Arthur Millers The Crucible is strongly influenced by the events connected to McCarthyism during the 1950`s. In the 1950’s, American citizens faced the threat of looming nuclear annihilation that was posed by the Soviet Union and it’s
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Liberal, urbane, and left-leaning, many of them members of the original Group Theatre with Immigrant and often Eastern European Jewish roots (like McCarthy himself), the entertainment industry on both coasts provided some of the prime material HUAC needed to present its case before a provincial, puritantiantical and conservative America. Several members of the Group Theatre had indeed been members of the communist party in the 1930`s and all identified with the fight against poverty, inequality and fascism. McCarthy knew how well with the Cold War his truth could be manipulated” (Brater). Arthur Miller had an interesting history with HUAC witch ultimately sparked his creation of The Crucible. Miller had joined the Federal Theatre Project, which was founded in 1935 and designed to put actors and writers back to work during the depression. Rumors began to circulate that this organization was full of

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