Review of TermsThe Crucible

Allegory Definition - a narrative that serves as an extended metaphor. The main purpose of an allegory is to tell a story that has characters, a setting, as well as other types of symbols, that have both literal and figurative meanings. In every allegorical story, there is a conflict between the surface story and the deeper meaning. The best ones are entertaining enough on the surface to be enjoyed even if the reader never perceives the allegory.

Irony Definition a contradiction between what is expected and reality Verbal Irony contradiction between what is said and what is expected to be said Situational Irony contradiction between what happens and what is expected to happen Dramatic Irony when the audience knows something that the character(s) do not know.

Examples of Irony Verbal Irony -Abigail claimed to be so "pure" and "holy" when she was accusing innocent people of witchcraft and sending them to their deaths, she also had an affair with a married man. Situation Irony Abigail started all of this to get John Proctor and he wound up dead. Children, usually thought of as innocent, were accusing people of witchcraft. Hale was brought in to find witches but in the end, he started defending people.

More Examples of Irony Situational Irony - In Scene II, Proctor is unable to remember the Commandment about adultery when questioned by Reverend Hale when the reader can reasonable expect that to be the one Commandment that he should be able to remember. - Verbal Irony - In Scene II, Parris says Parris says, "All innocent and Christian people are happy for the courts in Salem," when, in fact, few innocent and truly Christian people were happy for the courts in Salem.

Understanding the Allegory

The Salem Witch Trials and The Red Scare

Salem Witch Trials

Salem Witch TrialsFrom June through September of 1692, nineteen men and women, all having been convicted of witchcraft, were carted to Gallows Hill, a barren slope near Salem Village, for hanging. Another man of over eighty years was pressed to death under heavy stones for refusing to submit to a trial on witchcraft charges. Hundreds of others faced accusations of witchcraft; dozens languished in jail for months without trials until the hysteria that swept through Puritan Massachusetts subsided.

The TargetsOver 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused but not formally pursued by the authorities. At least five more of the accused died in prison. All twenty-six who went to trial before the court were convicted. The two courts convicted twenty-nine people of the capital felony of witchcraft. Nineteen of the accused, fourteen women and five men, were hanged. One man (Giles Corey) who refused to enter a plea was crushed to death under heavy stones in an attempt to force him to do so.

The EvidenceMuch, but not all, of the evidence used against the accused was "spectral evidence", or the testimony of the afflicted who claimed to see the apparition or the shape of the person who was allegedly afflicting them. Other evidence included the confessions of the accused, the testimony of another confessed "witch" identifying others as witches, the discovery of "poppits," books of palmistry and horoscopes, or pots of ointments in the possession or home of the accused, and the existence of so-called "witch's teats" on the body of the accused. A witch's teat was supposedly a mole or blemish somewhere on the body that was insensitive to touch.

McCarthyism

McCarthyismMcCarthyism is the politically motivated practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term specifically describes activities associated with the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by heightened fears of communist influence on American institutions and espionage by Soviet agents.

TargetsDuring the postWorld War II era of McCarthyism, many thousands of Americans were accused of being Communists or communist sympathizers and became the subject of aggressive investigations and questioning before government or private-industry panels, committees and agencies. The primary targets of such suspicions were government employees, those in the entertainment industry, educators and union activists.

Punished w/o EvidenceSuspicions were often given credence despite inconclusive or questionable evidence, and the level of threat posed by a person's real or supposed leftist associations or beliefs was often greatly exaggerated. Many people suffered loss of employment, destruction of their careers, and even imprisonment.

How Many?It is difficult to estimate the number of victims of McCarthyism. The number imprisoned is in the hundreds, and some ten or twelve thousand lost their jobs. Many of those who were imprisoned, lost their jobs or were questioned by committees did in fact have a past or present connection of some kind with the Communist Party. But for the vast majority, both the potential for them to do harm to the nation and the nature of their communist affiliation were tenuous.

Similarities

OriginsMcCarthy and the Salem girls began these hunts out of fear. In May 1950, Senator McCarthy feared he would be defeated in the upcoming election for US Senate. Likewise, in February 1692, a few young girls from Salem, MA, feared they would be punished for dancing since their community believed dancing was directly linked to witchcraft. To resolve their problems, McCarthy and the Salem girls began accusing people whom they thought were linked to the issues of their respective times. They believed that their deeds would make them heroes and give them the power and popularity needed to eliminate their fears. Communist infiltration into the United States was the largest national issue of the 1950's, so McCarthy claimed he knew the names of 57 people in the US Department of State who were Communists. Similarly, in Salem, there was this "conspiracy of witches whose aim was

Methods of Interrogation McCarthy examined the accused Communists. The local magistrates of Salem examined the accused witches. McCarthy and the magistrates pressured suspects to confess the crimes they were accused of committing. The suspects were encouraged to name anyone else associated with Communists / witches. Although all suspects in either hunt were bound to receive some sort of punishment, the ones who named other people received less punishment.

Societal EffectsThese hunts brought fear into the people of the US and Salem. As a result, many people feigned respect for McCarthy and the Salem girls because the few people who publicly doubted the hunt of their time were immediately ostracized by society. Since anyone had the ability to call someone else a Communist or a witch, people living during either hunt were frightened that even their closest friends could accuse them! Thus, very few people trusted each other; neighbors became bitter enemies; and calling someone a "Communist" or a "witch" became the new method to tarnish one's reputation - to seek revenge.

ConclusionsMcCarthy's Communist hunt and the Salem witch hunt ended when the majority of the US and Salem residents disapproved of these hunts. In October 1953, McCarthy's harsh treatment of Military General Ralph Zwicker during televised military investigations caused many of McCarthy's supporters to see McCarthy as "bullying, reckless, and dishonest. Similarly, by the autumn of 1692, doubts in Salem were rapidly developing as to how so many respected people were found guilty. The official end of McCarthy's Communist hunt came in December 1954, when the Senate voted to censure McCarthy by a vote of 67 to 22. The end of the Salem witch hunt came when Governor Phips of Salem, influenced by the writings of Salem's educated elite, rejected the use of

Lesson Learned?McCarthy's Communist hunt of the 1950's was almost an exact duplicate of the Salem witch hunt of 1692. Both hunts had similar beginnings, procedures for questioning suspects, effects on society, and endings. After 1692, history repeated itself in the 1950's.

Will the world experience another hunt or have we already?