Innocent In Order example essay topic

One of the most awful chapters in human history, timeless oppression. Parallels between The Crucible, and more modern examples of "witch hunting" such as the McCarthy hearings of the 1950's, are appalling. Other such time periods in history, including the 1940's Japanese American Internment era, the Apartheid struggle of South Africa, or Hitlers horrid Holocaust, all exemplify persecution and discrimination similarly. Each in the midst of a poignant theme, societies often trying to suppress individuals' freedom, in order to maintain social order. Arthur Millers' The Crucible, depicts the Salem witch trials during the end of the seventeenth century. It is a portrayal of young women who are caught practicing witchcraft and dancing, in a strict Puritan community.

Essentially, they were merely being teenage girls, in a confined society where they needed to break loose and act the way a teenager should: freely. They made up a tale of being bewitched by local housewives, in order to clear themselves of guilt. The cycle expands with each person accused: the supposed witch must decide whether to plead guilty to a crime she did not commit and name others who are also innocent in order to save her own life, or whether to refuse to incriminate herself or others and face death. The irony is that the accused can save their lives only by admitting guilt; furthermore, any protestation of innocence or criticism of the court is considered proof of guilt.

The fervor finally dies down, but the court does not admit its fallibility in any way, although the church does abolish the excommunications of those who have died. Shifting the pages a few centuries later, an encounter of a world shocked with the news of Hitler's plan during World War II. Millions of innocent Jewish people were being sent to concentration camps, and then ultimately to their deaths. The Nazis persecuted groups other than Jews; among the earliest victims of Nazi discrimination in Germany were political opponents.

In 1933, the Nazis established the first concentration camp, Dachau, as a detention center for political prisoners. The Nazis also persecuted authors and artists whose works they considered subversive or who were Jewish. In order to create his "super race", millions of freedoms were suppressed, in order to maintain "social order", much like a time ago. The United States was no better than Hitler during World War II in our persecution of Japanese Americans from the beginning of World War II until the end of the war. Yet another example in our history of freedoms taken away, in order to persevere and protect social order. The acts against the Japanese Americans included being barred from the armed service to living in internment camps subjected to curfews and arrests.

Through all the discrimination, the Japanese Americans continued to proclaim their innocence, in the same way as hundreds of year before, innocent women had claimed their innocence to wrong accusations. As we turn another page in history, the real question is whether the witch hunts ended in the 1690's or was the "Red Scare" of Senator Joseph McCarthy of the 1950's another example of how radicals have been used to repress civil rights. The Crucible is a frighteningly accurate portrayal of the accusations of communism in the United States. Written in 1953, when the United States feared that Communism was threatening to take over the world, U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy was conducting his "witch hunt" for Communists within U.S. society... "The Crucible" is quite clearly a response to the political paranoia of McCarthyism. Miller used his character introduction's to include political commentary.

For example, when Rev. John Hale appears in Act I, his four page introduction compares the Salem peoples belief in the awesome evil of the Devil, with the 1950's fear of the awesome evil of Communism. It cannot be helped, but to continue the comparison between the Salem witch trials, and the Anticommunism committee's work, throughout the scenes of "The Crucible". With the enactment of apartheid laws, another chapter of history was written in which discrimination was institutionalized. These race laws touched every aspect of social life for South Africans. It was required that all South Africans be racially classified into one of three categories. Classification into these categories was based on appearance, social acceptance, and descent.

One again, innocent freedoms over powered in order to maintain that "social order" that had been desired for ages. As centuries passed, another prevailing resemblance grew more and more evident; while in South Africa a government bureau was responsible for the classification of the citizenry, just as during the trials of the seventeenth century, the court and court officials played major roles in the act of discrimination. Likewise, non-compliance with laws were dealt with harshly, perpetual across the breach of times. The affinity between these historical times makes one aware of the cycle of history that humans experience, and the insidious results of hysteria that characterized each time period.

Literature is a form of expression that is sometimes designed to enlighten us about past mistakes, in the hope that we can learn from them and not repeat them in our future. The past has proven that we tend to obstruct and target civil liberties, time and time again. The fear of the unknown and what we do not understand can be a powerful, negative emotion. As intelligent human beings, it is within our power to prevent history from repeating itself.