Introduction
The U.S has a rich political history which dates more than 200 years now. The stories of Crucible and Salem Witchcraft have a share in the making of American politics. There are many similarities between the Salem witchcraft trials of the 1620s and America in the 1950s. This essay will examine the crucible by Arthur Miller and a speech by Joseph McCarthy to describe how fear and ulterior motives griped both citizens of Salem and America in the 1950s, almost 250 years apart.
Abuse of power1620s
The character who provides the best example of fear of the devil and witchcraft in "the crucible" by Arthur Miller is Mrs. Putman. She is convinced that someone in Salem is putting spells on her children causing seven of her eight to die as babies. To Rebecca nurse, "you think it is God's work you should never lose a child, nor a grandchild either, and I bury all but one? There are wheels within wheels in this village, and fires within fires. (Miller p. 17). Mrs. Putin is convinced that someone in her community is murdering her children through witchcraft and this fear leads to several people being falsely accused and hung for the crime. This shows how people in Salem in the 1620Ss were fearful of the devil and witchcraft.
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Abuse of power 1950s
Senator Joe McCarthy preyed upon Americans' fear of a worldwide communist revolution in his speeches. For instance, in his 1950 Rochester speech, Senator Joseph McCarthy said, "I have been naming and presenting evidence against those leaders who have been responsible for selling into communists' slavery 400,000,000 people -those leaders responsible for the creation of communist steppingstones to the American shores (Griffith, p. 408). McCarthy uses loaded words like selling into slavery and imagery, "creating stepping stones to the American shores to instill fear in the hearts of the American people. This shows that American's fear of communism during the 1950s was similar to that of stalemates in the 1620s of the devil and witchcraft.
Blame 1620s
One of the characters who provide an example of ulterior motives is Mr. Putman. He pretends to be piously concerned about the devil and witchcraft, but his real motivations are greed and vindictive nature. In his commentary, about Putman's grudges, Miller states "Thomas Putman felt that the village had smirched his name and the honor of his family, and he meant to right matters however he could." (Miller, p. 11). Miller was characterizing Putman's hard feelings against his neighbors for rejecting his nomination for the minister's position and siding with the nurse-family during their land dispute. This bolsters the argument that people in Salem had ulterior motives for accusing their neighbors of witchcraft.
Blame 1950s
Joe McCarty also had an ulterior motive, partisan politics to cause the secretary of state and his assistant of being agents of communist enemies. McCarthy was a Republican who wanted the next president and congressional majority to be republican. In his Rochester speech, McCarthy said, "For whom is Mr. Acheson's new day dawning? Who faces Lattimore's limitless horizon of hope? Not China. Not the forces of democracy in America, but the military masters of the Soviet Union" (Griffith, p. 407.) McCarthy is accusing secretary of state Dean Acheson and his assistant, Owen Lattimore of favoring communism over democracy. He is acting like he is defending America from the Soviet Union, but his real aim is to demonize leaders of the Democratic Party. Thus, both eras had leaders with ulterior motives.
Conclusion
This essay has presented examples of how fear and ulterior motives gripped the people of Salem in the 1620s and the United States in 1950s. The combination of a fearful population with leaders with ulterior motives proved to be destructive for both Salem in 1620s and Americans in 1950s.
References
Miller, A. (1996). The Crucible: Revised Edition. Penguin.
Griffith, R. (1971). The Politics of Anti-Communism: A Review Article. P. 408
