The Crucible A Tale of Two Trials
A political cartoon shows a massive stone wall surrounding tall office buildings which bear labels of "Department of Energy," "Defense Department," "National Security Agency," "CIA," and "FBI." Outside the wall, which is tagged "Government Secrecy," a couple huddles in a roofless hut called "Personal Non-Privacy." At the top of the cartoon is printed "Somehow I feel this is not the way the founders planned it." Indeed, America's founding fathers most likely did not plan for the United States to be governed in such a manner that the people of its democracy would feel debunked. How, then, did the United States since its founding in 1776 come to this feeling of exposure?Such an expansive question does not possess only one answer, of course. Multiple factors have caused United States citizens to feel the "personal non-privacy" Washington Post cartoonist Herblock depicts. Throughout American history the government has taken advantage of its ability to control; and, often led by an incendiary, people have been brought forth and laid bare in front of turbulent crowds. One of the first instances of this public inquest occurred in 1692 during the Salem witch trials, and then the probing happened again in the 1950s during the Hou
A similar excitement occurred again in the 1950s. Throughout the decade the United States faced the Red Scare, which included a hunt for Communists led by Republican Wisconsin Senator Joseph R. McCarthy. The long, bloody battles of World War II were finally in the past, but a new war had begun (Chun). Theoharis, Athan G. "Authors, Publishers, and the McCarthy Era: A Hidden History." USA Today. Sept. 1993: 90-92. The maintenance of personal privacy and public government began fracturing before the United States government was even ratified, and continues even today to cause debate and dissent. While there have been numerous episodes of governmental concealment and public exposure, the Salem witch trials and the HUAC trials are two of the more predominant. The drama and delirium that took over Hollywood and the general public during Arthur Miller's playwriting in the 1950s surely laid anti-McCarthyism tones in The Crucible. Indeed, the development of today's surreptitious government and its need to keep citizens open for inspection is a repercussion of both the Salem witch trials and the more recent hunt for communists infesting the American nation. "Somehow I feel this is not the way the founders planned it," says Herblock's cartoon. The Crucible shows life before "the founders planned it" in a context of Miller's perception of McCarthyism, and the work also resonates the United States' increasing feeling of non-privacy that citizens feel even today.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2466
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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