Discrimination In The Crucible

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Pages: 2

Discrimination and judgment of people who are falsely accused communism, or McCarthyism, has people fearing that they will be the next suspects, having their life on the line. Arthur Miller showed similarities of his eviction from society through McCarthyism to the witch trials that took place in his play, The Crucible. In both plots, either of communist problem shown in the McCarthyism hearing article, “A Decade of Fear” by Sam Roberts, or witch hunts shown in Arthur’s play, anybody in the community could be dishonorably incriminated of being a “spy, seeking to undermine American values,” (Roberts). The two stories fall in line with the idea that any person can be charged of being disloyal to the society's ways. In both stories, the fact …show more content…
Including “at the height of [McCarthy's] power in 1953, [where he] became chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and used the platform to make further charges of Communist spying,” (Roberts) proving that he was only accusing people that could overpower him eventually, and doing so without reasonable evidence. This rise to power this accuser had was similar to how Abigail in The Crucible used her new popularity of being “assaulted” by a witch to get her community to get rid of whoever she pleased. After the rise in power and corruption in the court system, the community still believed that they were doing the correct thing even though the had no proof that any of these people had done anything wrong. In “A Decade of Fear” the “senator never gauged [Mccarthy’s] cruelty or [his] recklessness," (Roberts) until someone higher up the totem pole was at fault. Once this connotation was stated that someone superior was liable - in the article the Senate, and in the play Hale’s wife- the idea of society’s prosecution of others seemed misguided. It was not until the town’s people saw that not only people who had a status that could criminal, but also people who are known favorable, and that is when it started to become