Communist allegations in “The Crucible” Essay

as worse than the other and saying one man's suffering is more than someone else's, "it is necessary to observe that the situation of our own time is more complex and therefore potentially more useful to the artist" (Popkin, 140). If people called McCarthy's acted on communism "The Modern Day Witch Trials", then could we say that The Crucible to be considered to be called "The Light of McCarthyism"? Could being accused of being a witch can be considered to be the same as being accused of being a communist? Both events had a person of power (or a person who gained power over accusations) who accused people of being either a witch or a communist (Abigail Williams in The Crucible, and Senator Joseph McCarthy during the Second Red Scare) (Bonnet, 32). "The witchcraft scare was violent, alarming, and brief, like an epidemic and, again, like the Communist scare of the 1950's" (Popkin, 140). In The Crucible, Abigail Williams and the group of girls were considered to be the higher court along with Danforth, which we can argue that Danforth could be considered to be a "push-over", because him and Judge Hathorne "believe" in what any of the girls would tell them in who was practicing witchcraft and been seen with the devil. Then, in the communist allegations, McCarthy and the House of Un-American Activities Committee accused thousand of people, including politicians, actors/actresses, and also, Arthur Miller himself, of being communist. Still others within the accused in the 1950's had no connection with the Communist Party for the purposes of this comparison, they are exactly like the innocent victims of the Salem trials within The Crucible (Popkin, 141). Although, the punishments were not the same (in The Crucible you were hanged till death, and the red scare you were sent to jail for about 6 months to a year, and public humiliation) (Cerjak, 56), but how you got those punishments were similar. Both events, if you did not confess to your action, either witchcraft or being a communist, you were hung (The Crucible) or sent to jail (Red Scare). Even both had the similar question when you were being held in court. In The Crucible, the question was "Have you now, or ever been, seen with the Devil?" (Miller, The Crucible). In the communist allegations, the most famous question, "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party of the United States?" (Popkin, 139). And finally, if we actually look up the definition of what "McCarthyism" is, it states "the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, especially of pro-Communist activity, in many instances unsupported by proof or based on slight, doubtful, or irrelevant evidence". Both events were showed a lack of proof, evidence, and any intelligence that people accused were seen with the devil or part-take in communism. With this support, this shows that McCarthyism was used within The Crucible and Salem Puritans community, before when it was actually given its name almost 250 years later.