Carly Otte - The Crucible Project

Edward Murrow and John Proctor

McCarthy and Abigail

- Believed that what either McCarthy or Abigial was

doing was wrong

-Tried to bring out the truth

- Murrow - "This is no time for men who oppose Senator

McCarthy's methods to keep silent" (Achter)

- Proctor - "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life! Because I lie and sign myself to lies" (Miller 143)

- Both of these people see value in

in the truth and tried to

bring justice back to

their community

- Created a dangerous group of people for the general

population to fear

- McCarthy created the list of 205 communists,

while Abigail framed women as witches

- Created this group to accomplish their own

agendas

- Abigail - To become John

Proctor's wife

- McCarthy - political

advancement

Character Parellels

Character Parallels

Joseph McCarthy

Presient Eisenhower

and Hale

- Saw through the lies of McCarthy and Abigail

- President - "I will not get into the gutter

with this guy"(History.com Editors)

- Hale - "I denounce these proceedings"

(Miller 120)

- Both are in positions of power,

and yet they were still

unable to stop the

lies from

spreading

During a trial with the Army's lawyer, McCarthy asked many invasive questions with targeted answers in response to this the Army's chief counsel ask, "Have you no sense of decency, sir?"(History.com Editors). A similar event is seen in The Crucible when Proctor yells, "You are pulling Heaven down and raising up a whore!" speaking about Abigail's recent actions (Miller 120). In both these situations the Army's counsel and Proctor were unable to fight the trial with respectability and lost their temper.

The only reason these

false accusations of

communist and witches had

any power in these situations was

because people were commonly

afraid of these things, therefore more likely to take rash actions to banish them. The witches in Salem threatened the citizen's eternal salvation while the communists in the United States threatened the safety of the country.

Army vs. McCarthy and

Proctor vs. Abigial

Panic in Salem and the US

Plot Parallels

205 Communist List and Signing the Devil's Book

Plot Parallels

McCarthy claimed to have a list of more than two hundred and five communists within the United States government, similar to the Devil's book in The Crucible which is often said to have a list of all the "witches" or associates with the Devil. Both of these lists were the only form of hard evidence these cases had, and both were fictional. These lists were the cornerstone of McCarthy and

Abigail's serving as their only ticket to

social advancement.

Power

Throughout The Crucible and during the McCarthy era the

power of information was often used to get the upper hand. McCarthy used his list of 205 communists to get the upper hand over his political opponents. This list also gave him the power of trust in his voters considering he was "saving" them from the communists. Abigail used the information she had over Betty to her advantage during the trials, and to keep her side

of the story intact. These sources show power takes

many forms, and is not simply a strong

or rich person, but knowledge

of the truth can be just as

impactful.

Theme Parallels

Theme Parallels

Social Responsibility

Privilege

The social responsibility of representing your country and serving

in courts is seen in both McCarthyism and Th Crucible. Mary Warren

often spoke with the Procters about how it was her civic duty to serve

in the court trials, and McCarty took advantage of his social

responsibility by lying to get the upper hand. In many cases a

responsibility can be seen as a chore although McCarthy and

Mary thought highly of their responsibility and used this

responsibility to elevate their status. Throughout these

resources social responsibility is shown

as a person's obligation to their

community to voice their

opinion and share what

they believe to be

the truth.

McCarthy had the privilege of high status within the US

government considering he was in a position where citizens took

his opinion and words into consideration even though he didn't

provide evidence. Parris was in a similar situation considering his opinion was highly valued in the court simply because he was the reverend. In both of these situations, a person with high status

was seen as having the most important opinion, even

without earning this opinion. McCarthyism and The

Crucible displays privilege as an advantage a

person has which they did not earn

and could be used in a

abusive fashion.

Works Cited

Works Cited

Achter, Paul. "McCarthyism." Britannica,

www.britannica.com/topic/McCarthyism. Accessed 14 Nov. 2022.

History.com Editors. "Joseph McCarthy." History,

www.history.com/topics/cold-war/joseph-mccarthy. Accessed 14 Nov. 2022.

"McCarthyism." American Masters, 23 Aug. 2006,

www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/arthur-miller-

mccarthyism/484/. Accessed 14 Nov. 2022.

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Viking Penguin, 1953.