This is my Crucible comperative essay. For this assignment we were supposed to write an essay comparing three different time periods: Colonial, The Red Scare, and current day. We wrote about these three time periods using a theme. My theme was scapegoating/reputation. I have learned from this essay that connecting history to current day better helps me better understand both of the topics. It gives me a different perspective on current events. One thing I have learned about writing is that if your themes fit in very well with your essay then your essay will flow nicely from paragraph to paragraph. Your transition sentences will help this happen. A common mistake that I noticed when I got my essay back was writing conventions. I noticed that although my writing partner and I made a lot of edits, there were still edits to make. One thing I could do is go back and check over it again even after it is peer edited. Another thing that I noticed is that I was having a little trouble connecting my thesis to my last paragraph. In the future I would like to work on always referring back to my thesis in my body paragraphs. Now before I hand in a big assignment I will check with Suzanne to make it even better.
Fear and Hysteria Throughout the World
In life today, for people at the top of the hierarchy, reputation is everything. They will do anything to gain control and a good reputation, even if it means blaming other people for something that they did. This took place during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, later on during the Red Scare in the 1950s, and in life as we know it today. During all of these different time periods people in power have used scapegoating to gain control and a good reputation. They will go through anything if it means that they gain these things. In the end all of these people end up losing their power to the citizens of their very estate. Throughout history, people have used scapegoating in order to keep their reputation good. This happens in time of fear and hysteria when people are often scared to question authority and resist.
During The Crucible by Arthur Miller, many people accused others of being witches to get the blame of their back. This was very common in this time because of what was going on in Salem, the witch trials. If people got accused they would automatically blame other people. This kept happening and eventually the church would come to a conclusion of whether they were a witch or not. Throughout The Crucible by Arthur miller people use scapegoating in order to maintain their good reputation. When anything bad happens to their name they try to rid of it quickly. When Reverend Parris’s daughter Betty falls ill and won’t wake up, Parris is scared for his reputation. He knows that if he is living with witchcraft, that his name will be blackened and he will lose his good reputation as a reverend. “Go directly home and speak nothing of unnatural causes”, (Miller p.62). The reason that Parris doesn’t want there to be any unnatural causes is because if that is the case, then he won’t be taken seriously as a reverend in Salem. An unnatural cause usually means witchcraft which is one of the worst possible things in their religion. Anything related to witches always has to do with the Devil and therefore it is bad. If Reverend Parris were to calm down and not panic about his reputation, then he would be able to save his daughter. He may have even made his reputation better if he had solved the problem. People would have looked up to him as a good leader. During this time period, a lot of what people did had to do with their reputation. Everything they did in life decided if you went to heaven or hell. Everybody wanted to go to heaven so that is why Parris wanted to keep his good name in Salem. His actions make other people scared to question his authority. Although, even if other people figured this out. They would be scared to question him because of the fear of going to hell. The Crucible was just the start to a long period of scapegoating, fear, and hysteria
During the Red Scare in the mid 20th century, there was a lot of fear and hysteria because of communism. People were accusing everyone. Others were scared for their lives and safety. Nobody knew what to do. “Because of McCarthy’s powerful position and the seriousness of the charges, most reporters assumed he was telling the truth.” ( Fitzgerald p. ) Nobody wanted to question authority especially Joseph McCarthy. If anyone did they would most likely be accused of being a communist because of what he was doing. Since Joseph McCarthy came out with this uproar, he gained a lot of power and good reputation. People believed that he was doing a great deed for the country and the citizens inside of it. He blamed other people in order to gain power. As he gained power more and more people started to follow and believe him. Joseph McCarthy used fear in order to gain power. He scared the people of the country so they would believe him. He did not even need the list to convince people that there were communist among them. In a way it was very smart of him to do this. It helped him gain what most people wanted back then, power. Since Joseph McCarthy was a citizen of the country, he could’ve been accused of being a communist. Another main reason he did this was because he himself did not want to be accused of being a communist himself. His actions made other people scared to question his authority. Although these things have happened in recent history, they are also occurring in life today.
Today, your reputation reflects who you are in the society. This is demonstrated by The current President of The United States. Everything he does, he does it to keep his reputation good. Although people do know that he has a bad reputation, he is just scared to show it. “Unfortunately, once your reputation goes down the drain, your reputational value goes down to zero-fast. It’s binary, as we saw with tiger woods; you’re either worth a lot, or people don’t want you at all.” (Washington Post, 2017). Once your reputation starts to go down, your value also goes down. People do not like to work and be with people that have a bad reputation. You either have a good reputation and people like you or, a bad reputation and people don’t. Donald Trump says the things he says to keep his reputation good. He is scared that he will lose his power if he doesn’t say anything. His actions make other people scared to question his authority. Right now, people are bowing down to him out of fear. If people with political power such as members of his own party were to step up against him, maybe he would change for the better. In all of these parts of history people have used scapegoating, fear, and hysteria to gain power.
Throughout history people have used scapegoating in order to keep a good reputation, even if it means blaming people for something that you did. This has happened during the Salem Witch Trials, the Red Scare, and life as we know it today. In all of these circumstances, there has been a leader who uses scapegoating to keep a good reputation. They had driven fear into the very hearts of the people that are part of their community. This could all come to end if people stood up to corrupt people with authority. But people are scared because of being scapegoated. They are scared that they would be accused if they question bad authority. If enough people stood up, then maybe they could drive that person out of power.
