This is a project that will compare the concept of "scapegoating" between the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy era politics of the 1950's. You will read the Crucible and or the Scarlet letter as well as selected readings on McCarthyism and the Red Scare.(those readings are to be determined) So first start off with the crucible and check back for further questions for McCarthyism and questions on a comparison between the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism.
Some background info on McCarthyism
McCarthyism
On February 9, 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy grabbed the attention of the country during his infamous speech in Wheeling, West Virginia. Senator McCarthy began his speech with the line: “Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity. The modern champions of communism have selected this as the time. And, ladies and gentlemen, the chips are down, they are truly down” (McCarthy 191). With this speech he began a tumultuous and unforgettable period of persecution and tyranny against anyone and everyone who was in his path. It was during this very speech that he declared: “I have in my hand 57 cases of individuals who would appear to be either card-carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party, but who nevertheless are still helping to shape our foreign policy” (McCarthy 193). With the sheer weight of his words, Sen. McCarthy had effectively cast a dark shadow of doubt upon the purity of our citizens: from the government officials, to Hollywood executives, to the neighbor living next door.
In spite of the freedom from any invasive and baseless persecution (such as religion-based) guaranteed by our founding fathers, almost instantaneously our country was turned on its side by the implication that Communists could be anyone, anywhere. Senator McCarthy brought the suspicion of others into our midst, and it was a cloud of hypercognitive awareness that our country could not shake. It is the domino-effect of fingers pointing at fingers, bringing the routine operation of our government under intense scrutiny. Senator McCarthy was successful in achieving an immortal name for himself in the history books as the term “McCarthyism” has become integrated into our everyday language as synonymous for a tyrant-breeding hysteria with the baseless persecution of innocent individuals.
During the era of McCarthyism, even the most routine event could cause everyday citizens to go out of their way to avoid speculation:
In the late 1950s a group of graduate students at the University of Chicago wanted to have a coffee vending machine installed outside the Physics Department for the convenience of people who worked there late at night. They started to circulate a petition to the Buildings and Grounds Department, but their colleagues refused to sign. They did not want to be associated with the allegedly radical students whose names were already on the document. (Schrecker 92)
This event was representative of many of its kind. Citizens were driven to avoid any social interaction or association that might provoke allegations of allegiance to the Communist party. During the height of the McCarthyism era unemployment was not only happening at the hands of the government. “Major corporations like General Electric and U.S. Steel announced that they would discharge any worker who took the Fifth Amendment, and other employers made it equally clear that they would do the same” (Schrecker). Additionally, “the New York Timesjustified its firing of a copyreader in the foreign news department as a matter of national security; had he worked on the sports desk, the Times explained, he could have kept his job” (Schrecker). The darkest hours of the “Red Scare” pitted family members, friends, and neighbors against each other. With the cloak of suspicion descending into every corner of society, it is only natural that the movie industry would reflect the plight of the country because no one was immune to McCarthyism.
McCarthyism in Hollywood
McCarthyism spread into Hollywood “in June 1950 with the publication of... a 213-page compilation of the alleged Communist affiliations of 151 actors, writers, musicians, and other radio and television entertainers” (Schrecker). Once their name was on a list, it was practically impossible for them to get cleared in time to save their careers. Often, the accused had to resort to whatever means they could in order to survive the scrutiny. “The show business people who couldn't or wouldn't clear themselves soon became unemployable and ostracized. Some left the country – if they could get passports” (Schrecker). In fact, some of the most notable and popular actors of this time period had to make public fools of themselves in order to get back into the good graces of their fans. Humphrey Bogart’s “rehabilitation required an article in a fan magazine confessing, ‘I'm no Communist,’ just an ‘American dope’”(Schrecker). Some blacklisted writers began writing under pseudonyms in order to continue working. However, writers who used pseudonyms or other people operating as “fronts” to represent their writing were no longer able to command their previous salaries.
During the period of the McCarthyism era, both the television and the film industry suffered quite a bit. Citizens were taught, through watching the examples of others, to be cautious in their personal and professional lives. As a result, “the blacklist contributed to the reluctance of the film industry to grapple with controversial social or political issues” (Schrecker 93). The industry, and its professionals, were dealt an extreme blow during the pivotal paranoid persecutions of individuals thought to have ties with the Red Scare.
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible & Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter
Arthur Miller wrote his play The Crucible in direct response to the events he witnessed as a result of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s desire to eradicate Communism from our country. In 2000, Arthur Miller directly addressed the motivation he had to write his play as a mirror to the events of McCarthyism. He describes the frustration of resisting the notion-based war of the Red Scare because an “ideological war is like guerrilla war, since the enemy is an idea whose proponents are not in uniform but are disguised as ordinary citizens” (Miller, “Are You Now”). During the persecution of his friends and colleagues, as well as his own experiences in resisting the contagion of paranoia, Miller chose to write the play as a way of both keeping himself grounded and sending a message to the public. Miller states that “The Crucible was an attempt to make life real again, palpable and structured” (“Are You Now”). It was an acceptable outlet for Miller’s creative energy and personal social commentary to be received by an audience. One of the aspects that Miller fought against was the social paralysis that American citizens felt in their everyday lives. It wasn’t enough to worry about what your friends and family thought about you, now you had to worry what strangers in your community were thinking about you. To explain his choice of the Salem witch trials as the backdrop for his depiction of the events of the McCarthyism era, Miller stated:
A similar paralysis descended on Salem. In both places, to keep social unity intact, the authority of leaders had to be hardened and words of skepticism toward them constricted. A new cautionary diction, an uncustomary prudence inflected our way of talking to one another. The word socialism was all but taboo. Words had gotten fearsome. (“Are You Now”)
Almost as frightening as the general inaction of the American public was the deliberately eerie parallel to the historic events of the Salem witch trials.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, originally published in 1850, depicts the social isolation that Hester Prynne faces from her small Puritanical community after she refuses to reveal the identity of her forbidden lover (Hawthorne). As a married woman in a Puritan community, shame and persecution are the result of an extra-marital affair. As Hester is led through the crowd in the opening scene of the novel with her daughter Pearl in her arms, her descent into complete ostracization from the community begins. According to the Puritan custom, Hester must wear a badge of her shame, the letter “A” for her sin of adultery. Hester turns her badge of shame into a work of envy with her superior embroidery skills. Even though she is shunned by her peers, Hester peacefully lives out the remainder of her life as an unacknowledged asset to her community (Hawthorne). Hester Prynne lives a life of persecution and abuse at the hands of her town’s intolerant views. It is the “group think” mentality that rules the community. As long as the Puritan community can despise Hester for the beautifully embroidered sin she wears upon her chest, they can presume that their own lives are secure from the unsavory influence of the convicted sinner. It is the same “us” versus “them” philosophy that fired the flames of the hysteria surrounding the era of McCarthyism.
Assignments:
Crucible
Some background info on McCarthyism
McCarthyism
On February 9, 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy grabbed the attention of the country during his infamous speech in Wheeling, West Virginia. Senator McCarthy began his speech with the line: “Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity. The modern champions of communism have selected this as the time. And, ladies and gentlemen, the chips are down, they are truly down” (McCarthy 191). With this speech he began a tumultuous and unforgettable period of persecution and tyranny against anyone and everyone who was in his path. It was during this very speech that he declared: “I have in my hand 57 cases of individuals who would appear to be either card-carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party, but who nevertheless are still helping to shape our foreign policy” (McCarthy 193). With the sheer weight of his words, Sen. McCarthy had effectively cast a dark shadow of doubt upon the purity of our citizens: from the government officials, to Hollywood executives, to the neighbor living next door.
In spite of the freedom from any invasive and baseless persecution (such as religion-based) guaranteed by our founding fathers, almost instantaneously our country was turned on its side by the implication that Communists could be anyone, anywhere. Senator McCarthy brought the suspicion of others into our midst, and it was a cloud of hypercognitive awareness that our country could not shake. It is the domino-effect of fingers pointing at fingers, bringing the routine operation of our government under intense scrutiny. Senator McCarthy was successful in achieving an immortal name for himself in the history books as the term “McCarthyism” has become integrated into our everyday language as synonymous for a tyrant-breeding hysteria with the baseless persecution of innocent individuals.
During the era of McCarthyism, even the most routine event could cause everyday citizens to go out of their way to avoid speculation:
In the late 1950s a group of graduate students at the University of Chicago wanted to have a coffee vending machine installed outside the Physics Department for the convenience of people who worked there late at night. They started to circulate a petition to the Buildings and Grounds Department, but their colleagues refused to sign. They did not want to be associated with the allegedly radical students whose names were already on the document. (Schrecker 92)
This event was representative of many of its kind. Citizens were driven to avoid any social interaction or association that might provoke allegations of allegiance to the Communist party. During the height of the McCarthyism era unemployment was not only happening at the hands of the government. “Major corporations like General Electric and U.S. Steel announced that they would discharge any worker who took the Fifth Amendment, and other employers made it equally clear that they would do the same” (Schrecker). Additionally, “the New York Timesjustified its firing of a copyreader in the foreign news department as a matter of national security; had he worked on the sports desk, the Times explained, he could have kept his job” (Schrecker). The darkest hours of the “Red Scare” pitted family members, friends, and neighbors against each other. With the cloak of suspicion descending into every corner of society, it is only natural that the movie industry would reflect the plight of the country because no one was immune to McCarthyism.
McCarthyism in Hollywood
McCarthyism spread into Hollywood “in June 1950 with the publication of... a 213-page compilation of the alleged Communist affiliations of 151 actors, writers, musicians, and other radio and television entertainers” (Schrecker). Once their name was on a list, it was practically impossible for them to get cleared in time to save their careers. Often, the accused had to resort to whatever means they could in order to survive the scrutiny. “The show business people who couldn't or wouldn't clear themselves soon became unemployable and ostracized. Some left the country – if they could get passports” (Schrecker). In fact, some of the most notable and popular actors of this time period had to make public fools of themselves in order to get back into the good graces of their fans. Humphrey Bogart’s “rehabilitation required an article in a fan magazine confessing, ‘I'm no Communist,’ just an ‘American dope’”(Schrecker). Some blacklisted writers began writing under pseudonyms in order to continue working. However, writers who used pseudonyms or other people operating as “fronts” to represent their writing were no longer able to command their previous salaries.
During the period of the McCarthyism era, both the television and the film industry suffered quite a bit. Citizens were taught, through watching the examples of others, to be cautious in their personal and professional lives. As a result, “the blacklist contributed to the reluctance of the film industry to grapple with controversial social or political issues” (Schrecker 93). The industry, and its professionals, were dealt an extreme blow during the pivotal paranoid persecutions of individuals thought to have ties with the Red Scare.
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible & Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter
Arthur Miller wrote his play The Crucible in direct response to the events he witnessed as a result of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s desire to eradicate Communism from our country. In 2000, Arthur Miller directly addressed the motivation he had to write his play as a mirror to the events of McCarthyism. He describes the frustration of resisting the notion-based war of the Red Scare because an “ideological war is like guerrilla war, since the enemy is an idea whose proponents are not in uniform but are disguised as ordinary citizens” (Miller, “Are You Now”). During the persecution of his friends and colleagues, as well as his own experiences in resisting the contagion of paranoia, Miller chose to write the play as a way of both keeping himself grounded and sending a message to the public. Miller states that “The Crucible was an attempt to make life real again, palpable and structured” (“Are You Now”). It was an acceptable outlet for Miller’s creative energy and personal social commentary to be received by an audience. One of the aspects that Miller fought against was the social paralysis that American citizens felt in their everyday lives. It wasn’t enough to worry about what your friends and family thought about you, now you had to worry what strangers in your community were thinking about you. To explain his choice of the Salem witch trials as the backdrop for his depiction of the events of the McCarthyism era, Miller stated:
A similar paralysis descended on Salem. In both places, to keep social unity intact, the authority of leaders had to be hardened and words of skepticism toward them constricted. A new cautionary diction, an uncustomary prudence inflected our way of talking to one another. The word socialism was all but taboo. Words had gotten fearsome. (“Are You Now”)
Almost as frightening as the general inaction of the American public was the deliberately eerie parallel to the historic events of the Salem witch trials.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, originally published in 1850, depicts the social isolation that Hester Prynne faces from her small Puritanical community after she refuses to reveal the identity of her forbidden lover (Hawthorne). As a married woman in a Puritan community, shame and persecution are the result of an extra-marital affair. As Hester is led through the crowd in the opening scene of the novel with her daughter Pearl in her arms, her descent into complete ostracization from the community begins. According to the Puritan custom, Hester must wear a badge of her shame, the letter “A” for her sin of adultery. Hester turns her badge of shame into a work of envy with her superior embroidery skills. Even though she is shunned by her peers, Hester peacefully lives out the remainder of her life as an unacknowledged asset to her community (Hawthorne). Hester Prynne lives a life of persecution and abuse at the hands of her town’s intolerant views. It is the “group think” mentality that rules the community. As long as the Puritan community can despise Hester for the beautifully embroidered sin she wears upon her chest, they can presume that their own lives are secure from the unsavory influence of the convicted sinner. It is the same “us” versus “them” philosophy that fired the flames of the hysteria surrounding the era of McCarthyism.
Assignments:
Crucible
These are the essay questions for the Crucible choose 4, and answer them by citing evidence from the book, and or other research. Do not limit your answers to just information from the book, use other evidence as well.
1. Compare the roles that Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams play inThe Crucible.
2. What role does sex, and sexual repression, play in The Crucible?
3. Why are Danforth, Hathorne, and the other authorities so resistant to believing the claim that Abigail and the other girls are lying?
4. What kind of government does Salem have? What role does it play in the action?
5. Analyze Reverend Parris. What are his motivations in supporting the witch trials?
6. Discuss the changes that Reverend Hale undergoes in the course of the play.
Scarlet Letter
Scarlet Letter
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