The Crucible by Arthtur Miller

The Crucible

Arthur Miller

Published 1953

American Play

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Part One

The Crucible, written in 1953 by American playwright Arthur Miller, is aptly named for the characters that undergo a test or an ordeal.  It is set during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, a notorious piece of early American history in which a village in Massachusetts becomes an environment for ignorance, suspicion, and paranoia.  

It started with an unsettled atmosphere of the community among neighbors and deepened when three young girls began acting strangely.  The illiteracy of some thought it was the work of the Devil, and before long, many innocent people were accused of doing the Devil’s work.   In a year’s time, 200 people were tried and 20 were executed.  

One of the immediate questions I have when I read a book is “Why does the author think the way he does?”  I want to know all about him.   

Arthur Miller was born in New York, 1915, to affluent Polish Jewish immigrants. One of his most significant life changing experiences was during the Great Depression because his family lost everything.  He became disillusioned, and like many, he questioned the efforts of capitalism and was open to other solutions to economic and social ills.  About this time, he realized he was not interested in religion.  In addition, he was subjected to anti-Semitism, and his opinions about Christians, especially Catholics, soured. 

At some point, Miller was exposed to Marxism and Communism and may have believed that both were more effective in dealing with social and economic challenges.  Miller was drawn to this, and for several years worked under a pseudo name, Matt Wayne, for the New Masses, an American Marxist publication for theater critics whose editors proclaimed Communist/Marxist loyalty.

In the early 1950s, Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin began the interrogation of suspected Communist sympathizers or party members within the U.S. government, and eventually it included writers, actors, and others being called to give an account for their associations.  

Soon after, Miller wrote The Crucible, “…motivated in some great part by the paralysis that had set in among many liberals who, despite their discomfort with the inquisitors' violations of civil rights, were fearful, and with good reason, of being identified as covert Communists if they should protest too strongly.”  He was significantly affected by the trepidation of his colleagues should they be exposed for association with Communists or accused of harboring the “wrong ideas.”  

Then, in 1956, Miller was called before the House of Un-American Activities Committee, which was formed in the 1930s to search out anti-American propaganda.  He denied membership with the American Communist Party, and refused to provide names of anyone who may have been affiliated with the Party.  He was found guilty of contempt of Congress and was blacklisted.  Later, he was cleared of all charges.

Part TWO

The United States was already abreast of Communists working within many levels of government; yet no politician was willing to confront the truth, until Joe McCarthy.  Regardless if he wanted to make a name for himself, he meant to challenge our government for not aggressively removing these Communist sympathizers, party members, and, in some cases, spies, from their positions.  McCarthy never named names, but Congress that demanded names.  In the end, the tables turned, and the witch-hunt became about McCarthy.  (Sounds like the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal that became more about Ken Star and Linda Tripp.)

When accusations spread, the entertainment industry felt the heat, and many compromised their art to save themselves from branding.  This, Arthur Miller, was not inclined to do.  To him, art and politics were one, and, whether it was freedom of speech or democracy, he would not compromise his ideals even if he lost the opportunity to produce art.  

Miller was a liberal, definitely a Socialist, and agreed with Marxist ideals.  He did support Communism for some time until he had to admit Communist coercion and regulation of artists and their work.   He and I stand on opposite political spectrums.

Having said that, I confess that The Crucible impressed me.  It was entirely effective from start to finish, and moved me to anger at times.   I was able to identify Arthur Miller as the significant character of John Proctor.   He was the one who would not name names, and he questioned the fanatical religion of the village and its injudicious religious leader, Reverend Parris.  

I understand what Miller wants us to know in The Crucible: people trigger paranoia and suspicion on unfounded fear to the point of mass hysteria and unjustified regulation and suppression.  Shall I remind us of the current war against of legal gun owners in this country?  No one on the left is crying “witch-hunt.”

I cannot agree with the comparison between the witch-hunt of Salem 1692 to the exposure of Communists in America 1950, for the fear of witchcraft is based in ignorance, but the infultration of Communism is worthy of alarm.  Communism is documented to be responsible for the death of almost 150 million people worldwide from starvation to murder.  Communism is a genuine threat to freedom and liberty.  If one considers it suspicious paranoia to be alarmed, I suggest that he study the Soviet Union under Stalin; China under Mao; or Cambodia under Pol Pot, and then ask himself if there is nothing to be concerned about.