Novels and the Revelation of Truth

Novels and the Revelation of Truth

“Betrayal is the only truth that sticks,” Arthur Miller. Many literary classics have given the truth in their writings. Novels that have done this are A Farewell to Arms and the catastrophe of war, The Grapes of Wrath and the truth of how Americans were being treated during the 1930s, and The Crucible showing the false accusations that can lead to worse during the McCarthy era.  A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway was a first hand look at war, and during World War I how people would turn on their own.

Frederic Henry was an American soldier serving in the Italian army, he faced many dangers, all dangers showed the truth of war. “I did not know whether I should wait to be questioned or make a break now. I was obviously a German in Italian uniform. I saw how their minds worked; if they had minds and if they worked. They were all young men and they were saving their country. The second army was being re-formed beyond the Tagliamento. They were executing officers of the rank of major and above who were separated from their troops. They were also dealing summarily with German agitators in Italian uniform”(Hemingway 240). This passage shows the mistakes made by soldiers, soldiers just following orders blindly driven by patriotism. Other than death many casualties befell the soldiers who went into war. Soldiers would be near explosions, shrapnel flying everywhere, many being burned on ingrained with pain. “Through the other noise I heard a cough, then came the chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh — then there was a flash, as when a blast-furnace door is swung open, and a roar that started white and went red and on and on in a rushing wind. I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself rush bodily out of myself and out and out and out and all the time bodily in the wind… I heard the machine-guns and rifles firing across the river and all along the river. There was a great splashing and I saw the star-shells go up and burst and float whitely and rockets going up and heard the bombs, all this in a moment” (Hemingway 58). This like many other injuries were shown and readers would get a look into what a soldier felt during this time.

In the 1950s America struggled with russia,the fear of communists brought events of betrayal against fellow workers. A playwright, Arthur Miller, wrote a play called The Crucible it had a direct correlation with the events of McCarthyism. There was a part where Reverend Parris had a list of all the people thought to be witches, this connects with the list McCarthy had of all the workers thought to be communists. The Crucible showed the people what would happen if they went on believing in what someone had to say. The fear people had of communists is what  made them believe anything they would to feel safer, same with The Crucible of how people would believe anything to feel safe from witches. The truth behind McCarthyism was shown in The Crucible. People had fear of communists during this era and with McCarthy promising safety they gave them all their trust, just like with Reverend Parris. “Proctor, with a cry of his whole soul: Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies! Because I am not worth the dust on the feet of them that hang! How may I live without my name? I have given you my soul; leave me my name!”(Miller 143). Many like in The Crucible tried to stand against the accusations  This is what happened in the town of Salem and this is what will happen if people keep believing in the false accusations of McCarthy. Arthur Miller did not want The Red Scare to end up killing innocent people, he wrote this play to show the truth and make sure the same mistakes of Salem would not be repeated.