However, a series of false accusations not only threatens their family’s reputation but also the husband’s life is in danger. Her husband’s reputation is just as important as his role in the household. He is never drunk, as some are, nor wasting his time at the shovelboard, but always at his work.”(Miller, 1953).
Elizabeth reiterates, “My husband is a good and righteous man. Elizabeth is full of praise for her husband’s hard work and determination. Proctor is also a loving husband to his wife, Elizabeth, and a devoted pious man who is respected in the Puritan community. Proctor is a local farmer, just like many members of his community who are devoted to their work and religion. Miller portrays the concept of McCarthyism in The Crucible through accusations and subversive investigation without substantial evidence. Miller effectively explores McCarthyism in the crucible through a flawed religious influence and hysteria. Proctor, the protagonist, is at the heart of these false allegations as his reputation as a respected puritan is on the line when his wife is accused of witchcraft. Miller’s The Crucible is an allegory for McCarthyism by portraying a Puritan Community that plunges into fear and false accusations as a means to evade punishment. This anti-communistic fervor created a massive hysteria forcing suspected individuals to confess and identify other communists to save themselves.
During this period, panic ensued across the country as people were falsely accused of associating with communists putting at risk the reputation and lives of numerous people.
Joseph McCarthy, a U.S senator, was in charge of the committee that sought to find communists in the country, giving rise to the term McCarthyism. Written in 1953, The Crucible explored a more recent witch hunt in the 1950s, where individuals accused of supporting and sympathizing with communism were hunted and jailed. The play was influenced by the historical event of the Salem witch hunts in 1862 that involved innocent men and women falsely accused of witchcraft and hanged. Miller efficiently illustrates how blindly following religion can result in preconceived ideas about other people’s values leading to false accusations. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is a dramatized and fictionalized story that explores inconsistencies in religions and social norms.
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