While reading The Crucible by Arthur Miller, we are exposed to the Salem witch trials of the late 1600s and the delirium that accompanied them. In this dramatic piece, Miller describes how psychotic and paranoid people became when these accusations arose, along with how women in the community were unjustly being accused as being witches without any credible evidence.
A similar mass hysteria occurred in the 1940s and 1950s, when Americans were deathly afraid that Communists were among them. During this Anti-Communist frenzy, referred to as the Red Scare or McCarthyism, people were randomly being accused of having affiliations with the American Communist Party without any actual evidence. The author of The Crucible, Arthur Miller, was actually called before a congressional committee and questioned about having relations to the American Communist Party. He admitted to having attended a few of its meetings, however would not discuss who else was in attendance, leading to his citation for contempt of Congress. That provided the basis for his piece, in which he tried to warn against mass hysteria by showing the absurdity of the situation.
The concept of mass hysteria relates to that of peer pressure. Once one person does something, those around them are likely to do something similar, which can be both good or bad. Say one person is at an event and sees litter on the ground and starts picking it up; if those around them do the same, that would be a positive chain reaction. However, as was the case in the Salem witch trials and during the Red Scare, one stimulus can lead to a quickly expanding and horrific scenario. By comparing these two types of situations, one begins to see the importance in making positive contributions to society, rather than ones that can tear apart communities.
I liked your ending conclusion of how people shoud make a chain reaction of positive contributions to communities. Communities will truley be better off when more positive actions are committed than negative ones.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Steph and I also like your last paragraph and how you bring up the point that chain reactions don't have to be bad.
ReplyDeleteI like how you gave an analytical summary of The Crucible. Also, I agree. Like Rachel's Challenge, positive chain reactions are possible- and we should start them!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was really good how you explained the Red Scare and what Arthur Miller went through to inspire The Crucible. Random accusations are exactly what happen in The Crucible, and they describe McCarthyism perfectly!
ReplyDeleteI loved your intro statement! I also agree that chain reactions can be positive. Great thinking! And I really liked your concluding sentence!
ReplyDeleteAwesome post Allison! I think it was very effective to relate the reading back to the Red Scare; it was great evidence to support your writing! Not only was it informative, but engaging and well-written, great job!
ReplyDeleteI loved the original thinking of making these chain reactions to a positive thing. Very interesting. I also like the use of your diction such as wildfire. I could visualize the hysteria spreading quickly and effortlessly in my head. :)
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