The great play writer, Arthur Miller formed a miserable story “The Crucible” during the dark Mc Carthy Ela. The story was based on Salem Witch Trials and the event behind the history. The author created a parallel story to spend the reader the message of how he thinks about the Anti-Communism activity of the 1950’s. The Salem Witch Trials and Anti-Communism activity of the 1950’s are parallels. Many of the events are similar within “The Crucible” and the Red Scare.
For example, Parris said, ‘”You will confess yourself or I will take you out and whip you to your death”‘, (pg44) a situation often seen in the Red Scare. The people in “The Crucible” are forced to confess-which is very similar to when people needed to confess to keep their job or their life in the Red Scare. The author used these lines to show the evilness in Salem Witch Trials in relation to the Red Scare. For people to get freedom in the Red Scare they had to accuse others and that was the “hunt rule”.
The same thing showed up in “The Crucible”, Abigail accuses Elizabeth of being a witch by poking a needle in herself as proof. To help Abigail accuse other, the helpers shouted “Herrick, Herrick, it is a needle. ” (pg74) The author points out that there are people who know the truth but do not stand for it, like the girls in “The Crucible”. It wasn’t easy to stand for the truth because people fear it so much. Certainly, the phrase “crush him” might indicate kill and destroy the devil when Parris tell the girl “I mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face. (pg39)
No one really knows how the devil is and people think the devil is in the witchcraft, but the real devil is the fear of difference. Parris think the devil is going to destroy the town so he should destroy the devil. If there is fear inside him, the devil will never disappear; in reflection to the Red Scare, the whole idea about Anti-Communism was fear. So, Arthur Miller used “The Crucible” as a story to reflect and parallel the Red Scare in the 1950’s. “The Crucible” is the message about how the author feels about the Anti-communism activity in the 1950’s.
The Arthur Miller used many symbolic phrases or events in “The Crucible” to express how he fells about the Red Scare. Like when Hale says, ‘”But you must understand, sir'”(pg94), shows the people have been forced to understand. The word “must” conveys the people in the Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare are making their choice under pressure. No one knows why the witch and the Communism are here because they can not know. But someone doesn’t chose to exchange accusing others with freedom.
When Giles says,”‘I can not give you his name'”(pg96), for himself, it means there are no name for him to give out; however, for the officers, it means he does not want to give out the name. The difference between the Giles and the officers are Giles believes in the truth, and the officers believe in a twisted mental idea. The officers are the people who have been twisted and twisting others, that was what author’s message trying to say. Even though, they may find out they are wrong, they still think they should always be right.
At one point of the story, John Proctor anger shouts in the front of everyone in the town before he die, ‘”I am John Proctor! You will not use me! “‘(pg143). That proofed John Proctor made a real man’s choice, and so did the author-Arthur Miller, he went to jail because he didn’t want to twist the truth. John Proctor’s cry is the steadfast decision of the Arthur Miller. The author spends the reader his message of how he feels about the Red Scare by the symbolic story of “The Crucible”.
