The Crucible – Hysteria and Panic

The dark witches sing their evil song and dance around the cauldron of fire help us oh hectate god send your dogs of anger to avenge us. This is the image of modern paganism or neopaganism. Unfortunately, it is very wrong, since they worship Hectate, Wiccans are bound not to hurt anyone, at least in their modern form. Hence the creation of white magic (Wicca) and black magic (Witchcraft). For many years, witches and other practitioners of religions other than Christianity, such as the Mormon movement and the Prophet Joseph Smith, were persecuted. The fact is that “9 million people” were not persecuted, in fact many Christian leaders protected them from the mobs.

In fact these numbers are propaganda and persecution against the Christian faith itself. The fact is that hysteria and a more enhanced word for it “drama”. Even in high school people want drama, the National Inquirer remains one of the best-selling magazines in the US despite its well-known libel cases that have reached the heights of the US legal system. This slander or controversy contributes to the bandwagon effect that everyone wants to be a part of. People throw all logic overboard with any kind of polemic or drama. Even best-selling author Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code, attributes it to this fact, considering it one of the reasons for the success of his books, stating that “Everybody loves a conspiracy.” There is something tied up in human hearts that replaces logic with lies and turns fear into hysteria.

“It is difficult, however, to feel that the political complexities inherent in The Crucible have been addressed by Mr. Miller with a comparable sensitivity. It is true that he has denied the intent of a contemporary reference in the work, choosing to see in it only the tragedy of another society. But it would be fatuous of Mr. Miller to pretend that our current cultural climate did not always have a place at the forefront of his mind. Surely then, he can see that the Salem witch-hunt and our own varieties virulent are parallel only in their effects, not in their causes”. (Richard Hayes “Hysteria and Ideology in The Crucible (1953)”) Author Miller searched for fragments that would support his point of view and his metaphor for McCarthyism. It is true that he changed Abigail’s age as one of the key characters in his novel and as an antagonist. He combined many judges into one so that he could control which was the trial court and their reactions and punishments. He ends his work as a tragedy when, in fact, many survived on Salem’s witch trails. In addition, the families of the victims were compensated with monetary means or with land.

Fear of communism has led to what is known as “McCarthyism, named after Joseph McCarthy, was a period of intense anti-communism, also known as the (second) Red Scare, which occurred in the United States from 1948 to around 1956 (or later). ), when the United States government actively persecuted the US Communist Party, its leaders, and other suspected communists” (The Free Encyclopedia of Wikipedia) When McCarthyism was first televised time and exposed the controversial tactics of Joesph McCarthy. This was the inspiration for the book “Arthur Miller’s Crucible”, he used the Salem stelae as a metaphor for McCarthyism that took place in the 1950s. Arthur miller uses drama as a canvas to paint a picture of propaganda and distortion. Arthur Miller is the Michel Moore of the 1950’s, he is unaware of the efforts made to protect civil liberties in our county. He sees national security as slapstick, as an attempt to undermine the communists and their party and free speech. Arthur Miller oversimplifies things in the metaphor of him between the 1950s and the Salem witch trials. An example of this is that there were communists in the 1950s, but in Salem, as far as we know, they were known witches. A current event that is related to this is the USA Patriot Act, which many criticize President Bush as violating civil rights, but in fact has saved us from multiple terrorist acts. Just like in the 1950s the communist trials helped us win the cold war and avoid a third world war. The fact is that hysteria is sometimes useful because it focuses our attention on a real threat and helps us prevent it.

Arthur Miller is a revolutionary in his own haughty eyes. He sees the world through a narrow tunnel and it is interpreted that he has an open mind. His ideas, thoughts, and actions are the reason the US government was thought to be conspiring against them. Now anyone reading this article says what about free speech. Freedom of expression is a marvel and a beauty of this great country in which we live. But censorship must come into play when you can bomb the internet. You could read a book and now believe you have to commit suicide, like the Heaven Gate Cult that used scripts, sacred texts, and professional websites to convince 39 people to take their own lives. Or the Oklahoma City bombing where the madman found instructions for making homemade bombs on the Internet or from research in public libraries. Arthur Miller is a propagandist, making great points but presenting ideology and drama with little to no substance, evidence, or constructive criticism. The world is safer without Arthur Miller’s propaganda. Without the controversial “drama” and lies. Terry Pratchett, aka Diggers, once said, “The problem with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming in and trying to put things into it.” We live in a world full of deception, it is difficult to separate fact from fiction, truth from lies. We must strive to define our ideas as of our own creation, not influenced by any outside intervention.