Crucible+Comparisons

There are several direct connections that can be ** made from __The Crucible__ and the "Red Scare" of communism in America in the 1950's. Knowing the author's point of view helps. Arthur Miller was a victim of the communist "witch hunt" of the Red Scare, much like Proctor is a victim of the actual witch hunt of the Salem Witch Trials. From this, many other connections can be made. The courts, or namely Danforth, were the authority leading the hysteria, can be directly related to Joseph McCarthy, a U.S Senator of the Red Scare that more or less lead the hunt for Communists. Basically, there was a lot of tension surrounding events of both time periods, and the fiascoes that ensued were just a way to provide answers for the public. Despite the fact that the morality of these happenings is terrible, it did serve the purpose of easing the public's mind. The lineup of God-loving Christians that were convicted of witchcraft easily corresponds with the "communists" McCarthy found who were actually patriotic Americans. Many disturbing events had occurred in Salem in the time leading up to the Witch Trials, as political conflicts aroused the American tensions towards Communist Russia. The death of babies in __The Crucible__ and the threat of atomic warfare during the Red Scare could be compared, due to the fact that they are both causes that led to the hysteria. Contrasts
 * __Compare and Contrast__
 * In the Red Scare, people were being accused of something that is actually real
 * In the Witch Trials, nothing could actually be proved, whereas communist connections could be proven
 * The stakes of death were much higher in the Witch trials compared to the still terrible blacklistings of the Red Scare
 * The Witch Trials were present in a much smaller scale, affecting only certain towns independently of each other; In the Red Scare, the whole country was changed

__**Other Events That Caused Hysteria**__

__Hysterical events in U.S. history__ Swine flu - a new disease everybody is worried will cause a massive deadly outbreak in the U.S.; everyone s now conscious of their sanitation Terrorist attacks of 9/11- everyone was on edge to see what the reaction and effects of the attacks were; there is now a widespread fear of flying and airport security is increased Anthrax scare- dying could be as easy as opening your mail. This really scared everyone.; Questionable substances in mail are very highly scrutinized and are treated very seriously

__Hysterical events in world history__ 2012 end of Mayan calendar- the end of the Mayan calendar is supposedly near the end of the year 2012. Nobody knows what will happen.; there is now a widespread fear and new ammo for conspiracy theorists. Also a movie was inspired by the idea. global warming- the earth is quickly becoming uninhabitable.; the result s that some people are adopting more green lifestyles

__Resources__ @http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism @http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/sal_cru.htm @http://www.globalwarminghysteria.com/ http://www.greatdreams.com/2012.htm