THE CRUCIBLE
BACKGROUND INFO.
Arthur Miller
The Cold War
McCarthyism
Written by Arthur Miller
• 1915-2005
• Lived through WWI, WWII, the Great Depression, the
Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, etc.
He’s Best Known For…
Miller's plays generally address social issues and center
around an individual in a social dilemma, or an individual at
the mercy of society.
• Death of a Salesman, 1949
• Addresses loss of identity and a man's inability to accept change
within himself and society.
• Failure to achieve the American Dream.
• The Crucible, 1953
• Focuses on paranoid hysteria as well as the individual's struggle to
remain true to ideals and convictions.
• Marriage to Marilyn Monroe, 1956-1961
The Cold War (1947-1991)
The Cold War Was…
A time of political and military conflict between the United
States and the Soviet Union, the world’s two largest superpowers.
Even though they were allies during WWII, they distrusted
each other immensely as soon as the war ended.
Why?
Look at how different the two countries were:
America
Soviet Union
Free elections
No elections or fixed
Democratic
Autocratic / Dictatorship
Capitalist
Communist
‘Survival of the fittest’
Everybody helps everybody
Richest world power
Poor economic base
Personal freedom
Society controlled by the NKVD
(secret police)
Freedom of the media
Total censorship
Communist Beliefs in America
• Belief in communist practices or Marxist Communism
(developed by Karl Marx) was not against the law in the
United States.
• In fact communist principles have been practiced many
times throughout our country’s history.
• The United States has always had many communist
sympathizers and the 1950s was no different.
• However, our biggest enemy in the 1950s was a
communist country that wanted to spread communism
throughout the world, just as the U.S. wanted to spread
democracy.
Enter Joseph McCarthy
• The United States had one big enemy: The Soviet Union.
• And Communism
• After WWII, the United States became increasingly
concerned about the spread of Communism.
• McCarthy took advantage of the United State’s distrust of
the Soviet Union by accusing government officials and
Hollywood personalities (such as Lucille Ball) of being
“subversive” if they were too left-leaning.
• McCarthy embarked on what is often described as a
"witch hunt" to root out and prosecute communists and
sympathizers -- using controversial techniques and often
making accusations with scant evidence.
Cold War Timeline
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1945 : ‘A’-Bomb dropped on Hiroshima + Nagasaki. USA ahead in the arms race.
1947 : Marshall Aid to the west of Europe. Stalin of USSR refused it for Eastern Europe.
1948 : start of the Berlin Blockade – ended in 1949
1949 : NATO established; USSR exploded her first ‘A’-bomb; China becomes communist
1950 : Korean War started.
1952 : USA exploded her first hydrogen bomb.
1953 : Korean War ended. USSR exploded her first hydrogen bomb. Stalin died.
1955 : Warsaw Pact created. ‘Peaceful coexistence’ called for.
1956 : Hungary revolts against USSR. Suez Crisis.
1957 : Sputnik launched.
1959 : Cuba becomes a communist state.
1961 : Military aid sent to Vietnam by USA for the first time. Berlin Wall built.
1962 : Cuban Missile Crisis.
1963 : Huge increase of American aid to Vietnam.
1965 : USA openly involved in Vietnam.
1967 : Six-Day War in Middle East.
1968 : USSR invades Czechoslovakia.
1973 : Yom Kippur War.
1979 : USSR invaded Afghanistan.
1986 : Meeting in Iceland between USSR (Gorbachev) and USA (Reagan).
1987 : INF Treaty signed.
1989: Berlin Wall is torn down.
McCarthyism and The Crucible
• Arthur Miller used the Salem witch trials as a metaphor for
McCarthy's communist "witch hunt," which upset
McCarthy.
• Miller was then questioned and found guilty of having
communist beliefs, but the conviction was overturned in
1957.
End Note
• As it turns out, many of the people McCarthy targeted
actually did have communist ties, but much of the proof
wasn't revealed until years later.