The Crucible Essay

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and the Anti-Communist McCarthy Hearings of 1950 have similar qualities. One was the excess of accusations against people for even slight suspicious behavior. In both cases, people are tried or questioned for their suspicious behavior and in many cases ended up confessing to false charges or accusing others to save themselves. In the Salem Witch Trials, not confessing to an accusation means suffering either a long jail sentence or death. During the McCarthy hearings, people who were suspected of varying degrees of communist loyalties became the subject of aggressive inquiries, which became known as "witch hunts." In both cases a person was either for the court or government or against it, there was no in-between. The cause of the Salem Witch Trials was an unfortunate combination of an ongoing frontier war, economic conditions, congregational strife, teenage boredom, and personal jealousies, which can account for the spiraling accusations, trials, and executions. What was the primary source behind the Anti-Communist McCarthy Hearings and the Salem Witch Trials? The primary source for the McCarthy Hearings and the accusers in Salem was the scarce factor; the fear inside everyone made people willing to support these crazy phenomena’s.

The religious authority at the time of the Salem Witch Trials believed that confessing to witchcraft meant saving oneself from the devil, and God would be bless them. On the other hand, if a person claims innocence they are hanged. The court is corrupted by religion and those who go against the court or who question its authority are arrested. The Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy Hearings set out to destroy people who were a perceived threat to the town or society, an evil threat. John Proctor is one of the only sane people in Salem during the witch trials; he does not believe in witches or that the devil cast his spirit into a person that makes them do evil things. John Proctor demonstrates his disgust toward the town when he says, “Peace. It is providence, and no great change; we are only what we always were, but naked now. Aye, naked! And the wind, God’s icy wind, will blow! (pg.81). The people who believe the accusers are held in high authority. John Proctor is particularly annoyed with this when he says, “Why do you never wonder if Parris be innocent, or Abigail? Is the accuser always holy now? Were they born this morning as clean as God’s fingers? (pg.77). The judges are concerned about their reputations and do not take into consideration logical evidence.

The judges during the Salem witch trials sided with the accusations in order to strengthen court authority. The McCarthy Hearings were also meant to strengthen authority during the Cold War, where people were accused or suspected of being a communist. Abigail Williams demonstrates what lengths people will go to protect themselves when she says, “I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him; I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil! (pg. 48).” Everyone Abigail accuses is put in jail. In some cases, people were not given a fair trial until months after they are charged. During the age of the McCarthy Hearings, the government created rules established that people could not form groups of any more than three to avoid plots against the government. Fear communism was strong in the U.S. Rumors of communists in the state department sparked a hunt that many supported out of fear. During the witch trials, children are acting unusual and everyone is scared. When a source for this problem is suggested, because of fear, everyone is willing to support the trials. An example of this phenomena is when Marry Warren is confessing to the court that she and the girls never made contact with the devil and never were attacked by spirits,