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The Witch Trials vs. Mcarthyism

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Character Analysis’

The Monthly Enquirer

Cover Story: Witch TrialsWeatherAsk Helpful SarahRevolt!

The weather lately has become quite stormy. Dark thunder clouds have descended upon our land and it rains continuously. It has been a dry year though, so I hope our crops will do well. Some are blaming the witches for this morbid weather. But weather it’s the Devil himself or simply nature more storms are coming this week.

Weather

Witch TrialsA series of trials were started in Salem. The whole affair started when two town girls were taken ill in the night. They could not speak or eat and lay still and tormented all day. As the sickness progressed, bits of information began to come out. Reverend Paris said that he saw the children dancing and chanting. He even said that he saw one of the girls naked, dancing through the woods. The ill girls and some other servant girls in the village had been with an indentured servant named Tituba. She had come from Barbados and talked of curses and the devil. The girls were confronted and confessed to their crimes along with naming those who walked with the devil. The trials have escalated and have turned to chaos. Evidence is little more than hearsay and upstanding members of society are being accused. We can only say how lucky we are that we have no witches, real or otherwise, in our town.

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Dear Helpful Sarah,My Servant acts quite

strange. She sits and mumbles and I am afraid to catch her eye as I walk past. I don’t know what to do. With all this talk of witches I fear I might have one in my house now. Oh I don’t know she frightens me intensely. Sometimes as I lie awake at night I hear the floorboards creak outside my door. Last week I saw something in the woodshed. I only hope that I will last until you can reply.Sincerely, Confused and Afraid

Well, Confused and Afraid, I hope that you are sure of your charges, because if you are not you are messing about with deadly business. Just because your servant is a little different does not mean that she is into the dark arts. Imagine if you were her: taken away from your family, maybe on a different continent, taken into basic slavery for a family you may not like. Instead be a good Christian and sympathize don’t judge. Only God shall judge us.Helpful Sarah

Ask Helpful Sarah

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At first the court held him in contempt but as the trials continued a few honorable men began to talk of how unreasonable the court was being. These “conspirators” questioned the court when they arrested a local midwife who was a pillar of the community. By that time many families had been affected by the trials and only a few had seen it in a good light. The town came together and drove the judges and the accusers out of town. 

Revolt!

The Nearby town of Andover has thrown out the court. They grew tired and annoyed at the courts blatant dismissal of reason in their proceedings with witches. The court had abandoned true evidence and fairness for the shallow accusations of little girls. So the court was overthrown in an uproar. It began with a defendant who, when pressured, questioned how he could confess if either way his soul would be damned.

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Abigail confesses to dancing in the woods, in order to protect Betty. Then, all of a sudden Betty begins to whimper and scream, and falls off the

bed. Betty then accuses Abigail of drinking blood in order to kill Mrs.

Proctor, and Abigail slaps her. After this happens everyone leaves Betty’s room except Mr. Proctor and Abigail and they

are talking about the affair that happened between them a couple months earlier. Hale arrives at the house and informs Parris that they

must find the devil that is inside Betty. Once everyone returns to the room

Abigail, Tituba, and Betty start accusing random people of witch craft.

The opening scene starts out in Salem, Massachusetts, with a sick Betty Parris lying on a bed in a small bedroom. Reverend Parris is kneeling next to the bed praying and crying for his daughter. Meanwhile, Abigail Williams enters, and informs her uncle that the doctor has sent a young girl by the name of Susanna Walcott. Susanna tells Parris that the doctor has been searching his books and can’t find a medicine that can make Betty better, and tells him to start to look at unnatural causes. Parris in disbelief says that there isn’t an unnatural cause, and tells the doctor to keep looking. Parris calls for Reverend Hale of Beverly.

Act 1

Act 2

Mary warren comes back to Proctors house and Proctor is noticeably mad. She gives Mrs. Proctor a “poppet” and Mrs. Proctor puts it on the mantle above the fire place. Mary tells them about the day in court and what happened. She tells them that Mrs. Proctor has been accused of witchcraft. Reverend Hale comes to proctors house asking about Mrs. Proctor. Hale talks to them about what happened in court that day. Cheever and Herrick come to Proctors house and try to arrest Elizabeth with a warrant. The act ends with

the arrest of Elizabeth.

This scene begins in Proctors living room, eight days later. Proctor is eating dinner with Mrs. Proctor, and he tells her that he is determined to please her. Proctor finds out that Mary Warren went into town even though he forbade her from going. Mrs. Proctor tells him that there was no way she could stop her, and that Mary went because she was an official of the court. Proctor finds out that there are fourteen people in jail being accused of witchcraft. Mrs. Proctor tells Proctor that he must go into town to tell the people that Abigail is faking it. Proctor tells her that he can’t prove it because there weren’t other people with him and Abigail.

Act 3

Act Three is set in the court room, where many people are discussing all the people being accused of witchcraft. Mary says that she and all the other girls were pretending to be cursed by the devil. The court is in shock and Proctor gets questioned by the judges. Proctor is informed that his wife is going to be expecting a child, but the court thinks she is lying. He says it must be the truth because that woman has never lied a day in her life. Abigail then enters the court room along with a couple other girls. Abigail says that Mary is lying. Proctor then confesses that he and Abigail had an affair, and Mrs. Proctor knew about it. They send Abigail into the room and ask her if Proctor had ever had an affair that she knew about. Mrs. Proctor wanted to keep his name clean so she lied and said that it never happened. Then, Proctor yelled out that he had had an affair, but Mrs. Proctor had already lied. All of a sudden Abigail and the girls started screaming in terror and pointing at the ceiling saying that Mary was trying to attack them with her spirit. The girls then started mimicking everything Mary said. With all the chaos happening Hale decides o leave the court.

Act 4

The act starts off in the jail. Herrick moves Tituba and Sarah Good out of their cell. Paris calls Danforth and Hawthorne and they talk about what has gone on the past few days and about the possibility of a riot in Andover. Elizabeth is reunited with Proctor and they talk about her child. She tells Proctor that it’s ok and that she has forgiven him for the affair he had. Proctor confesses to witchcraft but says no to sign that he confessed. He says that he wants to keep his good name. Proctor ends up getting hung at the gallows.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS’Reverend Samuel HarrisAbigail WilliamsReverend HaleJohn Proctor

REVEREND SAMUEL PARRISWhen the play starts out, Reverend Samuel Parris is very upset because there is talk that his daughter's sickness is linked to witchcraft. Being a reverend, Parris is quick to deny any rumors, but his respect in the community still fades.  He tells Abigail, "I have fought here three long years to bend these stiff-necked people to me, and now, just now when some good respect is rising for me in the parish, you compromise my character" (Miller Act I).  Towards the end of act one, Tituba is forced to confess to being a witch, and Parris takes part in asking her for the names of everyone that she "saw with the devil" (Miller Act I).  During the trials in act three, Parris aims to convict everyone that is being tried.  He is not willing to listen to anyone that attempts to defend himself, and he flatters the judges, but they make it obvious that they are only being annoyed.  After practically the entire town has been accused of having something to do with witchcraft and Abigail and her friends have fled town, Parris realizes that too many people are going to die, and he starts to fear for his own life. Over the course of the entire play, it becomes clear that Parris is a selfish man, and used the situation in Salem only to benefit himself.

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ABIGAIL WILLIAMSAbigail Williams, the niece of Reverend Parris, was one of the driving forces behind the entire story of the Salem witch trials. She was very influential, and had a lot of power over the other girls. Mary Warren did not want to testify for Elizabeth Proctor. She tells Proctor, “I cannot charge murder on Abigail. […] She’ll kill me for sayin’ that!” (Miller Act II). In the beginning, Abigail realizes that to stay out of trouble, all she has to do is accuse other people of being witches, and soon she uses this as a way to seek revenge on those who have displeased her. She is very manipulative throughout the trials, and because lying is not allowed, everyone believes her. She ends up leaving town because a nearby town has began petitioning the witch trials and she knows that it is only a matter of time until she will have to sit through her own trial.

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REVEREND SAMUEL HALEWhen Reverend John Hale comes to examine Betty Parris in the beginning or the play, he thoroughly believes in witchcraft and that Betty’s sickness should be blamed on the Devil. He interrogates anyone that could be associated with witchcraft, claiming that he knows all about spirits and demons. Reverend Hale is one of the first to realize that the accusations are getting out of hand, which is evident in his nervous and guilty manner when speaking with the Proctors. He feels responsible for the entire situation because he encouraged Tituba to confess. During the trials in Act III, Hale tells the judges that, “there is a prodigious fear of this court in the country” (Miller Act III) and that if someone is accused, they are not necessarily guilty. By Act IV, Hale is going from jail cell to jail cell trying to convince people to confess to being in league with the Devil so they will not be hanged. In most parts of the play, Hale acts as a voice of reason, but no one is willing to listen.

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JOHN PROCTORJohn Proctor is the protagonist, or hero, of the play. He is a strong, strict man, and “in Proctor’s presence a fool felt his foolishness instantly” (Miller Act I). Proctor is haunted by his affair with Abigail Williams, and this guilt ultimately becomes his undoing. Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife, knows that Abigail seeks revenge on her, and when Abigail gains power in the court, Elizabeth fears for her freedom and asks John to sever any relationship that he may have with Abigail. John, however, is afraid to do so, because not only will his reputation be slandered, but committing adultery was against the commandments. He eventually admits his affair to everyone in the trials, and Abigail, of course, denies it. He is convicted, being accused of lying, and is sent to prison. Elizabeth tries to convince him to confess so that he will not be killed, telling him that it his own decision. Proctor chooses not to confess, which would be a lie, and is hanged.

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McCarthyism

Analogies Between

Are you starting to see similarities between each era? Though you may not think so or notice it at first, each of these eras bear striking similarity.

In each case, there was a certain set of people being hunted out, an enlightened few who presided, people who opposed the whole thing, common interrogation tactics, and the reasoning that only the people

who are in charge know the whole truth.

In all cases, only those in power had full knowledge of the situation. They silenced or eliminated anyone who opposed them or threatened to uproot their power. During the trial of Bridget Bishop in 1692, Nathanial Saltonstall resigned from his post as a judge, aghast at how the trials were turning out. During the War on Terror, Secretary of State to the Bush Administration Colin Powell resigned from his position because he didn’t support Bush’s war. One newscaster and one of McCarthy’s associates, Don Hollenbeck, committed suicide to escape from accusation during McCarthyism.

General mainstream media manipulated people to all think alike. Back in 1692, they didn’t have television, internet, or phones.

Instead, everything depended on court transcripts for information, and these were written in a very biased, spiteful matter. In 1950,

it was mostly radio and news broadcasts. News reporters were very influential and trusted. In McCarthy’s reply to Murrow’s

broadcast, he said “I do ask you and every American who loves this country to join with me, against the communists.” This made

people feel like it was their duty to their country to support McCarthy against communists.

In both the Salem Witch Trials & the era of McCarthyism, some people were accused for no reason other than the fact that they

had something someone else wanted. In both cases, those high in power were accused. They had power,

owned land, or were influential.

Salem: For example, in The Crucible, Thomas Putnam believed that the Nurses' land was rightfully his, and therefore put them under accusation to further help him acquire it. Jealousy also played a role in Mrs. Putnam's accusation, Abigail wanted Elizabeth out of the picture because she was deluded by the idea that she and John Proctor were meant to be together.

McCarthyism: he same

scenario as above, but

instead of land, it was

something like a high-stakes job promotion.

ACCUSED

!

In both cases, people accused others to be un-accused themselves. They were stuck in a vicious circle of accusation and defense. The main point behind this was

that if you were afflicted by witchery, you yourself could not possibly be a witch.

"Luther himself was accused of alliance with hell, and he in turn accused his enemies (Miller, p183)."

Salem: Abigail and her friends were under suspicion, and accused others in turn to become "clean" themself, becoming a "Weapon of God".“After [Tituba] deny[ied] any guilt…she claimed that she was approached by [Satan]…she declared she was a witch, and moreover she and four other witches, including Good & Osborn, had flown through the air on their poles. She had tried to run to Reverend Parris for counsel…but the devil had blocked her path. Tituba’s confession succeeded in transforming her from a possible scapegoat to a central figure in the expanding prosecutions.”

McCarthyism: If you were suspected as a communist, you could help clear the blame from yourself by pretending to be a spy, giving the government more names, more observations, to get other people under the umbrella of doubt, and yourself in the clear. To prove to the House Un-American Activities Committee (which in charge of Communism interrogations) that you were innocent, you would name other people to make yourself seem innocent.

Lots of Power + Small Group of Individuals = Disaster

Salem: Just a small group, Abigail and her friends, were in charge of deciding who was guilty or not. Since they were the only ones deciding upon other's innocence, they could easily become corrupt [with power] and could let jealousy and petty differences preside, accusing those they hate and letting others go free.

McCarthyism: Just a small government group was in charge of rooting out and eliminating Communism. For example, in Good Night, and Good Luck, in the case of the military trial, only the army officials ruled during the trial, so it wasn't a fair case, since they were judging from a bias.

These examples show how a government system "pleads for checks and balances".

Fear of the unknown made people act irrationallySalem: This was a very strict, religious, God-fearing community. "...Today we would hardly call it a village...Salem had been established hardly 40 years before. To the whole European world the whole province was a barbaric frontier inhabited by a sect of fanatics...They had no novelists-and would not have permitted anyone to read a novel if one were handy. Their creed forbade anything resembling a theater or "vain enjoyment". Therefore, they were afraid of everything new, weird, or unknown. They actually believed that those accused were witches, and in fear lent themselves to hysteria, trying to root out all signs of evil.

McCarthyism: The country was afraid of Russian infiltration, and took no chances in rooting out Communism. If a cloud of uncertainty fell upon your enemy, it was difficult for them to become "clean" again unless they, in turn, accused someone else.

"Shroud your enemy in the unknown"

A Country Divided

"Diametrically Opposed

Absolutes"

In 1692, you were either 100% with God, or in league with the devil.     For example, take John Proctor: he was put even further into suspicion becuase it was noticed that he did not attend church regularly

In 1950, you were either 100% Patriotism and for America, or you were suspected as a communist.

Those who were in charge had to be respected absolutely, and anyone who was skeptical or disbelieving and tried to denounce their word was likewise accused. There were two parties, you were either part of one or the other, there was no in-between. If you even showed a hint of communist sympathy, or were supposedly seen at a meeting, you were under suspicion. ****ADD: p.182, after "Diametrically Opposed Absolutes" & p213, petitions & roads.****

Secret Meetings…

Salem: Anyone who may possibly be affiliated with witchery was promptly accused and arrested. If you attended a questionable meeting, or read certain books, or had “poppets”, it was seen as suspicious.

McCarthyism: For example, in the newsroom scene, men who may have ever done anything to put them under the suspicion of Communism were asked to excuse themselves from working on the news story, lest CBS be accused of protecting or standing up for communism, because they were working on a sensitive story and didn't want to appear to be for Communism. Even reading a politically-incorrect newspaper would instantly make you “guilty”.

“New McCarthyism”

http://maloof.wordpress.com/2007/04/15/the-new-mccarthyism-bendib-cartoon/