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Pavel Fomin, an individual rights activist, once said, “The most important thing about being an American citizen is freedom. In America, no one controls you. There are big opportunities. You can do anything you want.” This statement is known to be the foundation of American society. American citizens pride themselves on the concept of freedom, where they have the right to be an individual with private opinions. Freedom is what allowed writers such as Arthur Miller to publish print without consequences from the government.
Miller wrote The Crucible in 1952, which is a play that is an allegory of the McCarthyism Era. The play itself centers on the events of the Salem Witch Trials, highlighting the implications of mob justice in both the 1690s and 1950s. The play is historical fiction and the author includes a note at the beginning of the book emphasizing that several details have been changed from history. The Salem Witch Trials were a period in history where mass hysteria occurred, and countless people accused others of personal gain and revenge.
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One of the known reasons for this hysteria is a poison named ergot. It affects the central nervous system where the poisoned can experience delusions and hallucinations, leading to an overall deformed perception of reality (Nekrosius). This period saw a rage in society as people began to accuse one another of simply being different than the rest. Miller compared the events of this time frame with the McCarthy Era which also included mass hysteria, where people were tried to fight against communism.
Similarly, the people in the 1950s began to accuse others out of spite, just like in the 1690s. Arthur Miller is justified in making changes to the characters from history because he wanted to portray a play for dramatic and entertainment purposes to stress the danger of unchecked power.
In The Crucible, Miller includes a historical note at the beginning for the readers. Miller writes, “This play is not history in the sense in which the word is used by the academic historian” (2). Miller declares this statement to increase his credibility as an author. The play is not meant to be historical in the sense of informing the reader about the specific events in the Salem Witch Trials. He doesn’t write this play to portray history, hence his statement at the beginning of the book. Instead, Miller wants to portray the struggles he faced during the McCarthy Era as an allegory. For example, Ruby Li portrayed Owen Lattimore in the Mock trial who was a representative from China accused of being a Soviet spy (Li). Her witness testimony swayed the jury as she gave an insight into how Lattimore’s reputation was destroyed after being accused of perjury (Li). Furthermore, she also stated how she was accused based on no concrete evidence, hence her immense dislike for the unethical conduction of Lattimore’s trial (Li). Another fact justifying Miller’s actions is stated when she points out that “...Abigail’s age has been raised…” (2). Miller acknowledges the fact that he has made changes from the real-life history to the version in the play. The real-life Abigail Williams was an 11-year-old who was Samuel Parris’s niece (Rosenthal 15). Abigail in the play is known to be the main accuser and she has an affair with John Proctor. In real life, the affair never happened and Proctor was a quiet older man. In the Mock trial, the defense attorney brings up the fact that Miller raises Abigail’s age in the play because he “wants to convey the point that revenge was the main cause of the hysteria” (Marja). In the play, Abigail does everything she can to end up with Proctor, even to the point of accusing his wife Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft. Since Abigail doesn’t end up with the proctor, Miller conveys this relationship as the cause for the accusations. By stating these changes he made, however, Miller has credibility under his name because he admits he changed history to portray the bigger picture: hysteria.
Arthur Miller is an American citizen; therefore, he upheld the has certain rights granted by the United States of America including the right to a free press. The first known case before the Bill of Rights dealing with freedom of the press was The Zenger Trial in 1735. John Peter Zenger was a German author who wrote a newspaper called “The Weekly Journal” (Foner 148). In this newspaper, Zenger decided to reveal the corruption of the government and was “arrested and tried for seditious libel” (Foner 149). His lawyer, however, won the trial because he asked the jury to decide not if the publishment in the newspaper was true but if Zenger published the statements (Foner 149). This case was the basis of the freedom of prespublishfreedom because it allowed for the fact that ”the publication of truth should always be permitted” (Foner 149). According to the Zenger court freedowhofit, the publishment of individual opinion opinions is granted. To build upon, in 1791, The Bill of Rights is added after the ratification of the Constitution stating “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or publish the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (U.S. Const. amend I.). The Bill of Rights is upheldfreedomthe standards by the American society and therefore authors like Miller have the right to pwhoublish a piece of work, no matter its content. Miller has the authority of standards,eedom of the press, and therefore is most certainly allowed to publish the Crucible with all the changes he made. According to American law and standardswhoactually , Miller can not be found guilty of writing The Crucible as a play not portraying accurate historical characters and events.
Although Miller decided to make changes in the play, the characters in the play do not experience a fate that is “exactly that of the historical model” (Miller 2). This argument would focus on John Proctor’s life. In the play, Proctor had an affair with Abigail, whom was much younger. The main point of that argument by the prosecution attorney would be the fact that Proctor’s reputation was tarnished by the inclusion of this affair (Zhivotovsky). This, however, could not be the case. Proctor in real life used to threaten beatings, sometimes even did the action, Marry warren, his servant. Professor Douglas O.Linder states, “It is believed by some sources that when Mary first had, Even though Proctor, believing them to be fake, would beat her out of them. Even if it didn't actuallthough last, Even actually though actually, Even thoughLSAT proctorEven though beat her, he certainly threatened beatings and worse if she didn't stop the fits. It was this type of outspoken criticism of the afflicted that caused Proctor to be accused” (Famous Trials). This revelation proves that Proctor didn't have a “good” reputation to begin with, therefore it couldn’t be tarnished. Despite the fact that women in Puritan society were seen as submissive and beating occurred, it was still morally wrong. In the end, Miller iscanas able to portray the LSAT proctor as a tragic hero in the play as Proctor dies with honor to his name.
Miller writes The Crucible as an allegory to the McCarthy Era, portraying the hysteria as people accused one another of being communist to avoid punishment. These occurrences were similar to that of the Salem Witch Trials, hence the similarity in the period of freedom. Since Miller includes the note inatandget the beginning of the play, he gives an insight to the readers about the events in the book for the reason that no one is given misinformation. The people reading the book know that certain changes have been made for dramatic purposes. Abigail’s age has been raised and she has an affair with John Proctor. The play is written to provide entertainment for the reader angdandget getting get Engadget an idea of the bigger picture: hysteria. If Miller had included every single historical fact about the Witch Trials, the play would have been too long and boring for anyone to read and/or watch, thus the reader wouldn’t understand that unrestrained power disrupts peace in a community because injustice wins over fairness. The play was able to become famous for its short and sweet message of recognizing troubles in society and how to ensure a fair and just trial. Furthermore, Miller is known to have had an affair in real life so the inclusion of the affair in the play can be a reason for expressing his guilt. LastlLastgetand y the Bill of Rights gives the permission of free press to a citizen of the United States of America, thus allowing Miller to publish the Crucible the way that he did.
Freedom is The Foundation of American Society. (2022, May 24). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/freedom-is-the-foundation-of-american-society-essay
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