"The Crucible:" A Lesson Learn
"The Crucible:" A Lesson Learned from Salem 1692 Does the Salem Witch Trial from 1692 offer any modern day lesson for America? Often authors and playwrights use their art to teach lessons to the people who read, view, andenjoy their works. Often artists will use a real life event or person as the source of their work inorder to teach about life and people. Not only do life experiences inspire great literary works,but the works can show weaknesses in people and communities. By examining the past,lessons can be learned for the benefit of future societies. The Salem Witch Trial from over 400years ago does offer a lesson for modern America. Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible" depicts a fictional account of the Salem Witch Trialsthat occurred in Salem, Massachusettes in 1692. In Miller's account of the Witch Trials,teenager Abigail Williams uses a fancy imagination to accuse various people of Salem ofpracticing witchcraft and using their sorcery to bring her and her friends under their spell. Aftera series of trials, many people of Salem found themselves either jailed or executed because ofthe accusations made by Abigail and her friends. As Thomas Danforth, one of the judges, said,
This time period greatly affected Miller's career and ultimately sparked his motivation for writing"The Crucible. In the government hearings, accusers were summoned and questioned abouttheir activities. Inboth the Salem and McCarthy proceedings, the superiors wanted someone to be found guiltyregardless of the means or the truth. The fear and paranoia poisoned the thought processes of the people. Abigail's false accusations resulted inmany innocent people losing their land and their lives. Bush implicated the international terrorist Osama Bin Ladenand the Taliban government of Afghanistan who sheltered and supported Bin Laden's terroristicnetwork. In order to demonstrate that they themselves were not communist, the accusedwas expected to implicate others of being a communist. Very much like the witch hunt described in Miller's "TheCrucible" and the proceedings of the McCarthy Era, these people were scrutinized because ofthe color of their skin, their dress, their language, and ethnic origin. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 on the World Trade CenterTowers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, the United States declared war againstterrorism. President Bush ordered military tribunals, and not civiltrials, for suspected terrorists, and in language very similar to the McCarthy proceedings,announced to the world governments that they were either with the United States in this waragainst terrorism or against the United States. Miller's play was a reflection of lifeduring the 1950's when the red scare prompted the McCarthyism. Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible,"and the Salem Witch Trial does offer a lesson for modern America. The McCarthy hearings against communists were conducted much like the witch hunttrials of Salem. Fear of communism and the Cold War with the Soviet Unionaffected the people of America.
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