The Crucible Arthur Miller, 1953

Arthur Miller Miller was born in 1915 to Polish immigrants He is one of the most famous playwrights in American history He was also famous for his personal life, such as being married to Marilyn Monroe His works were very “in touch” with the times and reflected to tumultuous atmosphere of post-War America

Con’t For instance, his play, Death of a Salesman, depicted the way in which people lose their identity in modern America. He was highly critical of the government’s actions during the Cold War, which resulted in The Crucible He died in 2005

The Crucible The Crucible, published in 1953, is a play that is an allegory for the activities of the Un-American Activities Committee headed by Senator Joseph McCarthy The Committee was founded to hunt Communists in America, and it was particularly hard on the entertainment industry

Con’t If a person was targeted by this Committee, he/she was unable to work at all! This, of course, angered many in the industry and American as a whole. It raised the question of how far the government’s reach should be as far as people’s personal beliefs and practices

Con’t Miller wrote The Crucible as a result of the hysteria that come with the hunt for Communists People who were identified as being Communists had to identify others to avoid further punishments This lead to false accusations of innocent persons and false confessions to save one’s career.

Con’t The final result of the Committee was the ruined careers of many Americans and basically no progress towards battling Communism