The Crucible Mc Carthyism

There are many differences between the actual Salem witch trials and the reenactment portrayed in The Crucible. For example, in The Crucible it says that the witches were burned to death, but in reality they were hanged. Also, the people that were accused were not just strange and weird people that the government skillfully executed. They were strong in their obedience to the norm. In addition, the people didn't get hallucinations from eating moldy rye wheat, but were actually suffering from encephalitis lethargica. The last major discrepancy is over the decent of Tituba. It was earlier assumed that she was of African decent but in fact she often referred to as "Indian Woman" from South American Arawak.

McCarthyism and its connections with The Crucible

There are several tactics that were used during the time of McCarthyism that relate to and were applied in The Crucible. One of the major thing was the idea of jumping on a bandwagon and just going along with what everyone else was doing. In both instances, the people tried to convince everyone to do certain things simply because everyone was doing them. They both also used fear to coax the people into acting a certain way. Fear is a very intense and vulnerable emotion. It is very often that people use other people's fear to their advantage. Another definite similarity is that many lives were ruined due to the events that were took place during the McCarthyism time and in The Crucible. It is clear to see all of the similarities between them and how real life really made for a great play.