Fear in The Crucible Essay

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world. Fear is dangerous because it manipulates people into making unlogical decisions. For example, in 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts, people were afraid of becoming bewitched, the 1950s people also feared that they would be accused of communism or be accused of supporting communists. After 9/11 people felt endangered after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. I will now explain these three points in detail.

In the play, The Crucible it shows a lot of different examples where people let the horror of witches and the idea of witch craft steer them into making poor decisions. To start off with, Mr. Danforth, judge of the court has to make life or death decisions based on what he had heard they were accused of. Instead of doing what the right thing was he let fear overtake him which led to unlogical thinking. When court cases are brought up Danforth knows that the cases are a lie and there is no with craft but he cant do the right thing and let everyone go due to the fact that he has all the power and doesnt want to look weak in front of the village (Act III). Danforth, knowing that the whole thing is a hoax; he isnt going to let it get in the way of his power that he maintains. In addition, those who wouldnt confess to what they have been accused of were only making it harder on themselves, fear took over forcing them to risk their own lives. In the play, Tituba was accused of showing the girls her black magic. Tituba being scared didnt know what to do so she blamed other people to get herself out of it. She put others in danger just to save herself, starting off with Goody Osburn and Goody Good. If Tituba wasnt put under so much pressure she probably would of thought about the consequences of what she was doing in effect to the near future and prevented what she caused. In conclusion, all the people who were apart of the Salem trials shown in The Crucible and the actual history it came from, everyone lost their motive in the shadows of fear.

Arthur Miller based The Crucible off of the House Committee on Un-American Activities in his day. Americans were concerned about the security of the United States. The Soviet Union supremacy and the Communist takeover of China, this all shocked the American public, fearing that communism would be spreading all over the world. There were a lot of incidents that led up to the suspicion of the Communist influence of the United States. At the start of World War II, Americans started claiming memberships towards the communist party; most people feared that the Communists loyalty started at the base of the Soviet Union. Agencies investigated some possible influences inside and outside the United States government. One big supporter was HUAC (779-800). Once the Soviet Union gained the atomic bomb people feared that there were communist spies upon them. Former Whittaker Chambers accused Alger Hiss of being a spy for the Soviet Union. Chambers provided proof that Hiss was a spy and after some many years they convicted him of perjury and sentenced him to jail. This later on led to McCarthyism. Joseph McCarthy wanted to be reelected as Senate in 1952. He took advantage of peoples concerns about the communism; he then decided to make accusations that ended up being false. At one time he claimed to have 57, 81, and 205 Communists in the State Department. When being challenged, he would bring up another accusation but being careful that he would only release names in the Senate. The accusations he was making brought people to panic. In the end McCarthy did name 8 people who were a part of Communism. America was drawn to doubtful decisions by fear.

"It's as bad as after 9/11," says Rana Abbas-Chami of the Michigan American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. "A lot of people are scared. They've changed how they do things" (Hampson). After the 9/11 attacks people look at the Muslim culture in a different way. Assuming that all Muslims are bad now and are out to get Americans. Boarding airplanes, Muslims get randomly searched. Its a good precaution but also a little racist. Immigration policies have shaped up from the National Security, at times it seems like a little too much but its better to be safe than sorry. Since 9/11 one of the biggest mistakes was going to war with Afghanistan, when in reality we arent helping the situation at all probably just making it worse. A group of Muslim-Americans went to a football game and they started praying. Someone turned them in for being terrorists and they had to get questioned. When they got back to their seats Khalifa states, One guy actually looked me in the eye and said, You know; now I feel safe. Im like, From what? Just watchin a football game (Muslims in America). Fear leads people to make faulty judgments.

To conclude, fear often takes over the mind causing people to make flawed decisions. This is apparent in The Crucible, in the era of McCarthyism, and the current events of today. Even though people make these kinds of decisions its easy to prevent them.