McCarthyism and The Crucible contain many similarities...

McCarthyism and The Crucible contain many similarities and differences in their persecution and accusation of people who are identified as criminals of their societies. McCarthyism and The Crucible contain many similarities and differences in their persecution and accusation of people who are identified as criminals of their societies. Both events in history contain extremely similar circumstances, including the accusation of one person leading to a mass hysteria enveloping a society to be overly suspicious of their fellow people. The two events also contain many differences, including time, society structure, and the magnitude of the event. McCarthyism is named for Joseph McCarthy, a Wisconsin senator in the 1950s that†¦show more content†¦Another similarity between the two events is the fear of the unknown fear that swept through America during these two time periods. In the 1600s, the people of Salem believed that they were besieged by the devil, and became so scared of that possibility they began to see things from a perspective that led them to believe that all things that happened that were not of a good nature were of the devil and caused by a witch in the village. This movement reappeared in the McCarthy era, when people began to see others spying, sending money, and supporting communism when, in fact, they were totally against communism. Perhaps these people needed to read The Crucible and see how much they resembled the girls in Salem on their witch-hunt. In all their similarity, there are some major differences between The Crucible and the McCarthyism of the fifties. The most obvious difference is the four hundred year gap between the events of The Crucible and the events that occurred during the McCarthyism period. This gap represents a distinct and different society between the two events in history, and shows that circumstances pertaining to these events cannot be the same. Also, the source of fear is different between the two times in history. The people of Salem feared what they considered were the witches of their village,Show MoreRelatedA View from the Bridge: Story of a Brooklyn Longshoreman6101 Words   |  25 Pagespain of watching his family and community suffer. Growing up in the Depression meant a time â€Å"when it had been all but impossible to think of one’s fate apart from that of society† (Timebends 363). This is a belief that would stick with Miller and so many other working class men and women because it was linked to their survival. Through a series of economic depressions – 1870s, 1890s, and now the 1930s – the disenfranchised working class had latched onto the ideas of Marx, socialism, anarchism, and