At the time of McCarthyism, Arthur Miller had a close friend who had :: English Literature

At the time of McCarthyism, Arthur Miller had a close friend who had been accused and was willing to name THE CRUCIBLE In 1692, puritan Massachusetts was a difficult place to live. The Puritans were people who had left England to live a pure and holy life in America. They obeyed the laws of the bible and were a very superstitious group of people. They believed that any behaviour that opposed the bible, even the tiniest thing, was of the devil and his witches. In 1950’s America there was a Senator called Joseph McCarthy who led the Un-American Activities committee. This meant that he was in charge of ridding the continent of anything that was deemed Un-American. It had not been long since the Second World War and all Americans were very paranoid about the rise of communism in some of the eastern European countries. Joseph McCarthy was not at all interested in putting people in jail but ‘naming names’- he wanted to know the names of those who were involved in communism. This process was soon to be known as McCarthyism. At the time of McCarthyism, Arthur Miller had a close friend who had been accused and was willing to ‘name names’- Miller was angry and began to write the crucible. The crucible is known as what is called an Allegory. This means that it is written to subliminally show something about one thing when it is being described as another. The crucible describes the Salem which trials in 1692 but is meant to show the complete similarities between it and 1950’s McCarthyism. Two of the main characters in The Crucible are John and Elizabeth Proctor. We learn at the beginning of the play that John and Elizabeth have a very difficult marriage. There is growth in the mistrust between them as we grow to learn that John has had an affair with the reverend’s niece: Abigail. After numerous events John and Elizabeth are sent to prison on the charges of witchcraft. Near the end of the play they meet for one last time to discuss their course of action. Faced with a difficult decision, John must choose between life and truth. This decision is difficult because he wishes to live and see his children grow up but he dare not lie about committing a crime he is not guilty of. He will do only what his wife wishes. But what is her wish? When her and John first meet in the prison she says to him â€Å"The children are well. Rebecca Samuels keeps them† she says this with the intent that John will feel a loss on the behalf of his children.