Crucible the Witch Hunt: An American Tradition Term Paper

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Crucible

The Witch hunt:

An American Tradition

Off with their heads! Burn them up! We need to cleanse our community of good people from the malevolent designs of the wicked! Yes, people! We are at a critical point in the history of our great nation -- and our very existence is threatened by the Godless in our midst! We must, and we will root out the evil doers by any means necessary...and when I say any means necessary, I call upon the good citizens of this land to be vigilant -- to keep their eyes on anyone who might seem suspicious, for they hide amongst us, friends and neighbors -- yes they do.

Although this sentiment may seem a bit over the top, this is exactly the atmosphere that pervaded the town of Salem, Massachusetts during the period known as the Salem Witch Hunts...What? Did you think I was talking about something else? And it is also exactly the same atmosphere that again occurred in the midst of the dark period in American History known as the McCarthy era -- a time in which the newly emerging hysteria over the spread of Communism began to spread to unimaginable proportions.

Perhaps one of the best accounts of both historical events is found within Arthur Miller's 1953 play, The Crucible, written in the height of the McCarthy period. At the time of its writing, the United States was entering into a period that is now described virtually universally as "dark." In it, a feeling of general threat pervaded the country -- a threat, it was believed, in which Communists inside the United States would threaten the national security of the nation (today known as the "Homeland").

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Further, the government sought to convey a sense of urgency and fear, seeking to galvanize public opinion in favor of the immense spending that would support the new "Cold War"

Against the terrorist...oops, I mean Communist threat.

During this time, the author Arthur Miller, like many individuals within the nation, began to view the hysteria over the Red Menace with contempt. Indeed people like Miller grew increasingly alarmed as American Communists and many non-Communists, alike began to be demonized as traitors -- and as such, subject to unconstitutional searches, curtailing of free speech, and other restrictions on their ideological freedom. As a response, Miller wrote The Crucible, about the Salem Witch Trials in the 17th Century as a parable for what was going on around him.

In the story, Miller goes to great lengths to show just how far mass hysteria will take a community -- both to the detriment of the object of fear, as well as those who seek to destroy it. Indeed, the audience sees just how far otherwise "good" people will allow fear to destroy, or in the case of this story, even kill. We also see how a community can be fractured by creating an atmosphere of surveillance, informants, and judgment.

Specifically, in the story, the audience can clearly see the parallels between the character….....

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"Crucible The Witch Hunt An American Tradition" (2004, September 23) Retrieved June 5, 2026, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/crucible-witch-hunt-american-tradition-176619

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"Crucible The Witch Hunt An American Tradition" 23 September 2004. Web.5 June. 2026. <
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"Crucible The Witch Hunt An American Tradition", 23 September 2004, Accessed.5 June. 2026,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/crucible-witch-hunt-american-tradition-176619
   

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