How The Crucible Helped End McCarthyism

Have you ever read The Crucible by Arthur Miller?  

It’s about the Salem Witch trials. Only it wasn’t, not really. 

It was really about McCarthyism. 

Arthur Miller himself was suspected of being some kind of socialist/communist, so he wasn’t able to come right out and denounce McCarthyism or it would look like he had something to hide. 

Unable to say what he really wanted, he drew upon the parallels of the two times.

In Salem, just being accused of being a witch was enough to lose your land and your freedom. You were guilty until proven innocent and the only way to be proven innocent was to die. 

Talk about a lose-lose situation. 

McCarthyism was similar. Once you were ‘called out’ for being communist, socialist, reading Marx, or even just knowing a socialist/communist you were blacklisted, unable to find work, hold certain jobs or even end up in jail. 

It didn’t matter that the Constitution said you were innocent until proven guilty, or that it said you could read whatever you wanted without fear of government retribution. 

If you were accused, you were done.  

Once Miller’s play premiered, people were able to infer the similarities and it made them uncomfortable. This started a conversation. 

Shortly after the premiere of his play, Miller himself was accused. 

This fueled the fire, got people talking, questioning, taking action. The way any good story does. And eventually, McCarthyism ended. 

That’s how his story changed the world. How will your story change the world? 

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