The Crucible | Themes

The Crucible Themes

Politics

In the early 1950s, hearings at Senator Joseph McCarthy's powerful House Un-American Activities Committee had decided that the American Communist Party, a legal political party, was compromising the security of the nation by encouraging connections with Russia (America's ally during the Second World War but its enemy afterwards). Those who were sympathetic to the communist cause, or those who had connections with Russia, were summoned before the committee to explain their involvement, recant their beliefs, and name their former friends and associates in the communist cause. Miller himself had to attend a Senate hearing in 1957 He admitted that he had been to communist meetings of writers but refused to name anyone else. He denied having been a member of the Party and was eventually found guilty of contempt.

The McCarthy Committee's antagonism of innocent (and in most cases harmless) citizens and politically-motivated persecution in general, is explored...
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