The Cold War was an era clouded by persistent
paranoia, not only between the United States and the Soviet Union. When it came
to its own citizens, the U.S. government was, in some cases, just as fearful as
it was about foreign threats—especially when it came to the Hollywood crowd.
Indeed, in October 1947, members of a congressional committee, the House
Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), began investigating members of the
movie industry who they suspected were communist sympathizers. They banned the
work of 325 screenwriters, actors, and directors*. Among those blacklisted were
composer Aaron Copland, writers Dashiell Hammett, Lillian Hellman, and Dorothy
Parker, playwright Arthur Miller, and actor and filmmaker Orson Welles.
The Creative
Environment During the Cold War
The term McCarthyism
came out of this period and is now used more broadly to describe unfounded
accusations of one group or political party against its opponent, particularly
in discussions of patriotism and integrity.
In the 1950s, anyone suspected of communist
sympathies was thoroughly investigated with no mind paid for the personal
damage such an investigation may have caused. During this time, there were few
in the press willing to stand up against Senator Joseph McCarthy and the
anti-Communist hunt he led.
In 1950, ten individuals, known as the
Hollywood Ten, defied HUAC and refused to cooperate with the investigation.
They cited the actions of the committee as a violation of their civil
liberties, as the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution afforded them the
right to belong to any political organization. The men were sentenced to a year
in jail, although one of the Hollywood Ten, Edward Dmytryk, decided to
cooperate with the government and provided the names of more than 20 in
Hollywood he alleged were communists**.
Arthur Miller's
Response
In response to this period of intimidation,
playwright Arthur Miller penned some of his most notable works, including The
Crucible (1953), an interpretation of the events that occurred in 17th
century Salem, Massachusetts, where twenty innocent people were executed for
witchcraft.
The way in which Miller paralleled the witch trials with the era of McCarthyism earned
him a seat in front of HUAC. He was convicted of contempt of Congress for
failing to name names of communist sympathizers; however, his conviction was
later overturned. Nevertheless, the experience continued to impact the
playwright and his later works.
In The Creation of the World and Other
Business (1972), Miller is inspired by the Book of Genesis and its
themes of good versus evil; however, he gives a comedic rendition in The
Creation wherein God is powerful but lacks intelligence.
In the Incident at
Vichy (1964), Miller explores human nature, guilt, and fear while
depicting how the Nazis orchestrated the Holocaust without much resistance.
To better understand Miller and his thought
process, it is helpful to look to The Theater Essays. In the work, Miller discusses the roots of modern drama and
the state of contemporary theater with reference to other notable writers such
as Ibsen, Chekhov, and O'Neill. He also compares attitudes toward theater in
Russia, China, and the United States.
In short, Arthur Miller is one of the most
important playwrights of the 20th century whose work
often reflected the oppressive nature of the contemporary state, especially
during McCarthyism. In an era of fear and intimidation, Arthur Miller stands
out as someone who wasn't afraid to write his conscience.
Your comment must be at least 380
words. Due by Tuesday 4/17 at 11:59pm. Your reply to a classmate is due
Thursday 4/19 at 11:59pm.
-How was Arthur Miller using the events around
him to shape his writing?
-What influence did the Red Scare have on his
writing of The Crucible?
-What parallels can be found between the Red
Scare and the Salem Witch Trials?
The Red Scare was the fear of communism. The american People blamed communist as the problem or as scapegoats. In the crucible they use weird people as scapegoats, and say its witch craft. I think when he was writing the story that stuff was going on im not sure.
ReplyDeleteBoth of them were excuses to americas problems we blamed other for our own problems. We dont know how to handle anything with out blaming or killing others.
I agree with this post^
DeleteAround Arthur Miller were many problems. There was the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism. Knowing very much what was going on, he decided to use the problems to make stories. He made a play on the Salem Witch Trials to get across the message of what was happening. The red scare was a time period where people accused other people, most innocent, some not, of being a communist or being apart of a communist group. This was very similar to the Salem Witch Trials because many innocent people got accused of being witches when they weren’t. Both problems resulted in execution, hangings, violent beatings, and other things. Both subjects had many court cases and people were put in jail. People who were accused were investigated and put on trial. If you denied, your punishment would be pretty bad. If you admitted it, it wasn’t as bad, but something still happened to you. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible based on the Witch Trials, like I mentioned. The whole story focuses on how girls dancing in the woods turned into conjuring spirits. The whole town goes crazy to find the truth.
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ReplyDeleteArthur Miller was using the things around him to shape his writing by writing about the past. He was using the ideas around him to help him with his writing.During the red scare people were accusing others of being communist and he used that to make a historical fiction play. Arthur Miller wrote about communist sympathies and the committee violations. The influence the Red Scare have on his writing of The Crucible is about the salem witch trial. Arthur Miller was also himself accused of being a witch which he really wasn't one.The similarities that are found between The salem witch trial and The Crucible, is that people were being accused of being a witch. They were basically judging people. People were being convicted of a crime they didn’t do and a lot of innocent people were sent to jail. And if they were a witch they would get sent to jail or get executed.
ReplyDeleteArthur Miller was the one to write the play “ The Crucible” his inspirations were based on the events he been through or was most familiar to him. The Red Scare was a time period where people were being accused of being communist, even the most innocent people lives were ruin in. Miller was one of the false accusations making him well know about the whole thing that had occur. He did his research into the Salem Witch Trials because he found that both of the events had many things in common and wanted people to realize what was happening around them. Both events were related to each other but he didn’t want to put out there something that was occuring in that time period so he used what happen a long time ago. When people would read it, they realize that it was happening now with the whole accusing innocent people and making no sense of the reason why people were there. It is something that affected a lot of people because many people wouldn’t believe you making it harder for them to look forward into their lives. It was a storm basically because many people were dying or being sent to prison. These events were helpful to Miller to help bring the real world to the people actually make them see around them. It is also an important event in our history now both events and it interesting that both had the same connections with one another. It is something that shouldn’t had happen because it does not make sense at all. Both events are now things that we can look back and know not do it again.
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ReplyDeleteArthur Miller was using the events around him to do the writing, by describing the personal situation going on in his surrounding but not necessarily using the names and the step by step situations that go on. He didn’t want to risk his life or anyone else’s. He knows that by people reading his novelistic society he would get people to realize they were the only ones to suffer and get introduced to new and unrealistic consequences they didn’t even know should be deserved to them. The influence that the Red Scare had on his writing from The Crucible, was that he knew what was wrong from right. He knew that people were being punished for reasons that were crazy. Although people were too afraid to stand up against society and knew that this was a person vs. society matter. Understanding the dangerous circumstances he knew that his writing must be written in invisible ink, for only a few to know what the book secretly said. I think this is what inspired Miller to write the book, for example, people were accused for something without any evidence of that being true. People where pointing fingers at anyone whether it be for revenge or just to get out of being accused themself.This would ruin careers, lives. People would ruin their jobs and lose everything they invested in just because someone else had said that they were acting strangely, so they must be a communist. Of course, almost one hundred percent of the time the person was not a communist at all. People couldn’t really defend themselves at all, anything they said or did would be used against them. This led to people being hanged and wrongly accused. This relates to McCarthyism seeing how people would claim that another person with a communist without having actual proof of it.
ReplyDeleteArthur Miller was using the events around him to shape his writing because he was already born around that time so he knew what he was doing and basically just writing about his lifestyle. Arthur knew that make innocent people around were getting accused and executed for being a communist. The influence that the red scare had on this writing was basically the same from the crucible. He hid it that it was about the events by using the Salem witch trials as a cover up. The influence that the red scare had on this writing is that The red scare is basically what the book is based off from including the Salem trials. Arthur Miller was also himself accused of being a witch. People accused people of being a communist during the red scare. For example, during the 1630s and 1950s people were being accused of being a witch or in general just being a communist. Parallels that can be founded between the red scare and the salem witch trials is the accusations of people being communist and people being witches. Just like both stories, some started out both stories by something like witch craft going on. Both people were wrongly accused.
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ReplyDeleteArthur Miller was using the things around him to shape his writing by writing about the past. He was using the ideas around him to help him with his writing.During the red scare people were accusing others of being communist and he used that to make a historical fiction play. Arthur Miller wrote about communist sympathies and the committee violations. The influence the Red Scare have on his writing of The Crucible is about the salem witch trial. Arthur Miller was also himself accused of being a witch which he really wasn't one.The parallels that are found between The salem witch trial and The Crucible, is that people were being accused of being a witch. They were basically judging people. People were being convicted of a crime they didn’t do and a lot of innocent people were sent to jail. And if they were a witch they would get sent to jail or get executed.