“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” This quote is a testament to the Salem Witch Trials and many incidents proceeding 1692 that were mimics. Events like McCarthyism, Wenatchee, Washington, and current events with terrorism all have striking resemblance. The happenings all occurred in different times and places but the likenesses are hard to look past. The Crucible is a documentation of how history repeats itself. In The Crucible Abigail Williams accused many innocent people of being witches. In 1950 Joseph McCarthy had a similar role when he claimed the State Department had Communists working for it.
Neither of the cases had any evidence to prove the accusations, but both caused quite a raucous. Abigail caused the town to perform a witch hunt, as did McCarthy with adding the theme of Communism. They both influenced their peers into believing false claims. In these situations, the question, “is the accuser always holy?” is monumental. These parallels are what lead Arthur Miller to set his play in the time of the Trials. He was trying to arraign McCarthyism, but at the same time, he proved how similar it was to Salem, 1692.
The circumstances of Salem in 1692 could be mistaken for McCarthyism in 1950. The analogies between Salem 1692 and Wenatchee 1993 are apparent. In both cases, small girls manipulated people in to believing their words because of the lack in evidence. The reactions to the claims demonstrate fear overcoming reason.
The Essay on The Mass Hysteria Between Todays Society And The Salem Witch Hunt
Freedom in today's society is totally different from back when the witch trials were going on in Salem. By the people in the United States being able to do whatever we want to do whenever we want to do it. Compared to the people in Salem always being accused and checked up on for being a witch. The similarities in the United States and Salem would be that they are both losing some of their ...
The police do not want any children getting raped; in turn, they start arresting without question. They abandon all morals and reason to be persuaded by a twelve year old. Ipso facto, without fact, plays an important role in the occurrence. They had no facts, other than the children’s words, to rule anybody guilty. As one of the accused said, “We ” re guilty until proven innocent in this town.” Of course, the adults had a big role, as they did in Salem. Many of the children, in both instances, were intimidated by their elders into false statements.
The two issues were separated by 3, 000 miles and over three centuries but they are carbon copies of each other. Recently, in response to terrorism attacks, John Ashcroft has put on a “terrorism hunt.” This was another case of anxiety trampling reason. Homeland Security would rather arrest potential terrorists and have them turn out innocent than to take no action at all. In Ashcroft’s perspective, the greater good of society outweighs the individual. They want to be proactive as opposed to reactive for the purpose of being better off safe than sorry. Although some innocent people may have been denounced, the necessary action is being taken to secure our nation.
That is how the Puritans were thinking. Whatever it takes to rid the town of Satan should be done. Obviously, Ashcroft’s actions can be a current example of past developments. In all of the preceding manifestations, fear is a factor.
Fear can cause many to do things they normally wouldn’t. Each of the four episodes had different names and faces, but if you weren’t watching closely, you might have interpreted it as a repeat. These events show you how humanity needs to pay more attention to history. As long as fear exists, society will continue to echo the past.
