Good Night and Good Luck

by Warner Brothers and Associates

The Crucible

by Arthur Miller

and

Who was Arthur Miller?

• Born in 1915 to a prosperous Jewish family. Father financially struck by depression.

• Graduated -University of Michigan in 1938.

• Wrote patriotic radio plays during WWII

All My Sons -1947 Death of a Salesman – 1949The Crucible – 1953

. Never a member of Communist Party.

. Concerned about social issues since the Depression.

. Considered himself to have tendencies toward socialism.

. Called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1946.

. Chaired Social and Scientific Conference for World Peace in 1949 which made him suspect.

Who was Joseph McCarthy?

• U.S. Senator from Wisconsin considered to be a “demagogue.”– A political leader who seeks support by

appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument.

• Influential to both Pres. Eisenhower and Truman.

• Used anti-Communist cause as a way to be re-elected.

• As U.S. entered Korean War, McCarthy accused people in the state department of being traitors.

• His final target was the U.S. Army.• His propaganda and mud-slinging

had an effect on the American Middle Class: people avoided any political activities for fear of being accused.

What was HUAC? • The House Un-American Activities

Committee was established in the 1930’s to investigate subversive activities.

In 1947, it had three purposes:1. To prove the screenwriters’ guild had

communist members.2. To prove that the writers placed

Communist propaganda in the films.3. To show that President Roosevelt

encouraged pro-Soviet films during the war.

The “Hollywood Ten”• One director and nine screenwriters

who refused to name names or deny being a member of the Communist Party.

• One gave names; the others were “blacklisted” – never worked in Hollywood under their real names again.

Overriding the First Amendment• Banks checked all movies for controversial

or political content.• “McCarthyism” hunted books in schools,

universities, and libraries.• Books dealing with Communism were

banned.• During committee trials, people were

asked to “confess” in order to be “purified.”

(Sound familiar?)

• “The more I read into the Salem panic, the more it touched off corresponding ages of common experiences in the fifties.”

Arthur Miller

Allegory • Allegory is an extended metaphor in

which a person, abstract idea, or event stands for itself and represents something else.

• A famous example is The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank Baum in which the yellow brick road represents the gold standard. (There has been some heated debate over this…but that is another story-feel free to research it on your own).

Injustice• The court of Salem, was a mockery of the court

system, as the court people wanted convictions that suited their motives – land, relationships, revenge, etc.

• There is a crucial flaw in the court system, when Danforth claims that “witchcraft is ipso facto, on its face and by its nature, an invisible crime….we must rely upon her victims-and they do testify..” He admits that there is no real evidence, so they must rely solely on the “victims.” He has no way of knowing if he has reliable sources, but prefers to believe the word of Abigail and the girls, over any other members of the community.

Injustice

•What similar examples of injustice do we see in the Edward Murrow’s Story?

Powerless nature of the accused

• There was very little the accused could do once someone called “witchcraft” on them. There was no testimony, evidence, or witnesses the accused could produce that would override the “proof” of spectral evidence.

• What similar examples of “powerless nature of the accused” do we see in the Edward Murrow’s Story?

Powerless nature of the accused

Fear, Panic, and Hysteria• Because the Puritans came to

America seeking to create a “pure” society (I am loosely interpreting the complicated religious beliefs of the Puritans-so you historians out there please forgive my

simplistic explanation), the idea of the devil being loose in Salem threatened everything they believed in, had hoped and planned for, and the lifestyle to which they had grown accustomed.

Fear, Panic, and Hysteria•What similar examples of “fear, panic, and hysteria” do we see in the Edward Murrow’s Story?