In this essay, I wrote about the connection of vengeance and scapegoating throughout history. The aim of this assignment was to write an essay connecting the Crucible era, the McCarthy era, and current events with a theme. In The Crucible we talked about the Salem Witch Trials and the day to day social life. During the writing of this essay, I learned what a strong impact the Red Scare and the accusations that followed had and how they shaped not only America, but also most of the world. After I turned this essay in I noticed some mistakes I had missed. These mistakes just seemed to be very simple mistakes like spacing and some tense problems. I soon corrected these and realized how I should always double check or even triple check. In future essays or even just some other assignments I will always try my best to go over everything and keep in mind little things like tense problems or capitalization.
Name: Konrad
Humanities
7th Grade
The Crucible
How Vengeance and Scapegoating Have Affected History Until Today
By Konrad Morgan Lehmann
People have used notably cruel tactics to get out of trouble, but one of the most used tactic is scapegoating. Scapegoating is the center of excuses not only today but also in the past people have blamed everyone. From their closest friends to their most hated enemies for things they have done wrong. A scapegoat is a person that is blamed for the failures of others, “A person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency,” (Oxford dictionaries). Gaining power through scapegoating and vengeance happens a lot, and miraculously works most of the time. Through this people have also obtained influence and risen to power in communities and cities. Many people gain authority through vengeance and scapegoating. They would find their weak enemy and then blame them for the things others had done.
In The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, many people are being accused of witchcraft. This leads to many people trying to defend themselves, and a number of them turn to scapegoating. Scapegoating and vengeance play a significant role in The Crucible, and many of the people simply blamed those they did not like. This way they would not be accused themselves, and if everything went their way, the person they didn’t like would be hanged. Abigail Williams did exactly this, blaming Elizabeth Proctor for being a witch, by doing such she hoped to get Elisabeth killed, who is a person she strongly disliked due to the fact that Elisabeth suspected her to be sleeping with her husband. “ABIGAIL: ‘I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!’” (Miller p. 65). The quote shows how Abigail Williams realizes that she, herself has been accused of being a witch and is trying to take pressure of her own accusation by blaming others. She has seen what troubles Tituba, the accused witch, has escaped from by simply scapegoating, and is using this very same tactic to defend herself from Reverend Hale, the reverend of a nearby town’s, attacks on her. She thought by doing this, people will think she is in the same situation as Tituba and is being forced to work for the Devil. By doing this, she is scapegoating others to help herself, but she is also getting vengeance on people like Proctor’s wife for throwing her out. Scapegoating was not only used to defend oneself, it was also used to rise up in the ranks of authority. This is something used even in the twentieth century.
During the 1950s people were extremely concerned about being accused of being a communist. Many people were wrongfully accused and wanted to redirect the pressure towards people they actually thought were communists. Every population has people they dislike, and in this time of fear, most of the citizens of the US wanted peace, and scapegoating was a way to diminish some of that anxiety. They would pick on someone they already didn’t like and blame them to divert oneself from the accusations leveled at them. The same went for Joseph McCarthy who scapegoated members of the cultural sphere. Joseph McCarthy: “I have here in my hand a list of 205 men that were known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist party and who, nevertheless, are still working and shaping the policy of the State Department.” (West Virginia, Senator Joseph McCarthy 1950). In this speech Mr. McCarthy gave, he scapegoated members of government that he thought should not be in their positions because they are members of the communist party. He thinks if he puts the pressure on them, it will relieve the strain from the other important matters he has to attend. This means, if he can complete his original goal, to eradicate communism in America, people will respect him. This type of activity carried on throughout history and people are still being falsely accused today.
Throughout history people have reached power in many divergent and extreme ways. Not only do people scapegoat their way into power, but once they have achieved their desired position, they start to take revenge on those who were against them previously, and to help those who supported them before. Donald J Trump has shown how he uses this tactic to his advantage, which left more than half of America and part of the world wondering if he is really an appropriate person for the position of president. “My motto is: Always get even,” he wrote. “When somebody screws you, screw them back in spades.” (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/donald-trump-obsessed-with-revenge). In this quote, Donald Trump clearly gives an example of how he gets revenge on all those who have stood in his way. Trump states that he thinks everyone should get revenge on their past enemies. Does this mean, as president, he feels he should get revenge on all those who have done something bad to America? Though these are very complex matters, in the end it all reflects back to scapegoating and the way people use it.
Scapegoating has not only been around in incidences like getting out of small blames by people you know, but it has even occurred in even more severe times like elections and political issues. Throughout history scapegoating has had a major impact on people and their lives. Not only adults but also children and the communities around them have been affected by these accusations. Even schools and nurseries like LREI have been targeted, “‘How Red Is the Little Red Schoolhouse?’ asked a 1950 booklet. To the National Council for American Education, the publishers of this pamphlet, the answer was obvious—the American public school system was being subverted by communists and their sympathizers,“ (Douglas T. Miller & Marion Nowak, The Fifties: The Way We Really Were, NY 1977 page 248-249). All these factors show how paranoid people were, not only in the McCarthy era but in all other historic moments. How would you feel if you knew your elected leader or even closest friend, cheated their way to power just to avoid blame? What does it feel like to know that maybe some of the people you look up to, are different from who they represented themselves to be?