Miller Case

The events and characters' actions Miller includes in The Crucible relates to McCarthyism as they both involve betrayal and mistrust of one another. In the 1950's, the government often accused civilians of being affiliated with communism and communist organizations without substantial evidence to hold up these accusations. Similarly, all throughout The Crucible, the girls, especially Abigail, were constantly accusing people in the town of witchcraft, even though they had no real evidence to support it. In Arthur Miller’s short biography in the beginning of The Crucible, it is said that McCarthy summoned mass amounts of people to the court where they all must answer the question, ¨Are you now or were you ever a Communist?¨(826). It is also said that if these people did not either confess or give the name of a friend they know are involved in Communist activities, they will be jailed. McCarthy is supposed to lead the people to a better tomorrow but instead he doubted all people; doctors, actors, writers, etc. and accused them of betraying the country instead. In addition, in Act II when Mary Warren returns to the Proctor house to give Elizabeth a poppet, she expresses that, ¨Goody Osburn-will hang...in open court she near to choked us all to death...I feel a clamp around my neck and I cannot breathe air...¨(853). Abigail has previously convinced Mary Warren and the other girls to convince people of witchcraft to get rid of those they thought as a ¨threat¨ to their town, or rather, themselves, just as McCarthy eventually made people suspicious of others, thus causing them to accuse each other to save themselves. In conclusion, the connection between McCarthyism and The Crucible becomes apparent when you look at the mistrust of others that occur in both situations.

...