Republic Plato Essay Example for Free

Republic Plato Essay A noble lie is necessary for smooth and peaceful governance. In Republic, Plato offers a wide account that seeks to justify the use of lies among the societal elite. Using the example of a stratified society that is made up of rulers, auxiliaries, and farmers, Plato emphasizes that a society needs these clear strata for a peaceful co-existence. However, this stratification needs to be solidified and justified by a pack of lies which he calls, The Noble Lie. For instance, the people need to be assured that these strata are not as a result of forces within their control but it is the will of God that demands so. It is the will of God that intervenes during birth; so that some people are born with gold entrenched in their souls, others with silver, and others with iron. Apparently, those born with gold make the rulers’ class while the silvers are the auxiliaries and those born with iron are the farmers’. It was believed that if the rulers sired children with silver or even iron they would definitely relinquish their rulers’ status and take the auxiliaries or the framers status depending on the metal in their souls. The same case applied to those in the auxiliary and farmers’ category that were with gold – they would be promoted to the rulers’ class. To mitigate such scenarios, it was also believed that people from different metal classes should not intermarry – marriage was strictly within the same classes (Pangle, 1988). Fundamentally, the noble lie is comparatively similar with the contemporary religion given that they all aim at piecing the society together so as to avoid unnecessary wrangles. Religion, like the noble lie seeks to instill a sense of confidence and trust in the supreme deity who is conventionally believed to be responsible for all issues affecting human kind. Though the myth is a work of fiction from a fertile mind, it succeeds in hammering home its message. The noble message is that human beings cannot be morally and socially equal; some will be rulers while others will be the servants to the rulers. Perhaps Plato’s decision to use noble lie was informed by his conviction that not many people in the society are capable of making good leaders, given that good leaders are expected to make smart decisions. Apparently, those smart decisions need to be laced with â€Å"necessary lies† capable of holding the society together even in the thick of temptations (Pangle, 1988). A good example of noble lies applied in contemporary governance matters is the Iraqi invasion by the western world led by the United States and United Kingdom. Ideally, both President Bush and Prime Minister Blair administrations used the noble lie(s) to drum support from the public that indeed an Iraqi invasion was justified. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Americans developed a feeling that terrorism needed to be fought even no matter the consequences. On the other hand, the British public like very many others at the time, particularly non-Muslims had great fears on Saddam developing weapons of mass destruction. These situations provided the best opportunities for the Bush and Blair Governments. For instance, it was very easy for the Bush administration to tie up a few truths (fighting terrorism) with the big lie, that Saddam Hussein was giving refuge to terrorists to justify an invasion. On the other hand, Blair had an easy time convincing the British public that invading Iraq would rid Saddam Hussein of the deadly weapons of mass destruction. Both lies were indeed â€Å"noble† given that they were based on the notion that a toppled Saddam Hussein leadership would create a peaceful world to live in (Postel, 2003). The main reasoning behind Plato’s conception of a stratified society is that a society needed all categories of people for it to be productive. Leaders provided ideas responsible for holding the society together while the auxiliaries provided the critical guarding services to critical personalities and places, with the farmers providing the menial labor for various activities. To him, the lie did not matter or even loose morality given that people believed that their â€Å"God† was responsible for putting a different metal in each individual’s soul and bloodstreams before s/he was born. If the people believed, just as religion demands of them in God then the society will be more governable in a â€Å"just† manner (Mason, 2004). Similar sentiments are shared by Pfaff (2003), when he argues â€Å"that the essential truths about society and history should be held by an elite, and withheld from others who lack the fortitude to deal with truth. Society, Strauss thought, needs consoling lies. † Ideally, this was a conviction based on the notion that the auxiliaries and farmers alike were not fit to enjoy explicit freedom or even capable of cushioning the potential shocks in the event they were told the â€Å"truths. † Or even as Urdaibay (1) asserts, There are different kinds of truths for different kinds of people. There are truths appropriate for children; truths that are appropriate for students; truths that are appropriate for educated adults; and truths that are appropriate for highly educated adults, and the notion that there should be one set of truths available to everyone is a modern democratic fallacy [that] †¦ doesnt work. After all, Plato reasoned that any attempts to tell them the truth would be an exercise in futility as they would not understand the gist of any truths given that their iron coated souls and bloodstreams undermined their potential for grasping truthful things – they could only understand lies which were laced with some elements of nobility. It is only to assert that if they realize the truth behind the laws of nature that are taught to them that, â€Å"the right of the superior to rule over the inferior, the master over the slave, the husband over the wife, and the wise few over the vulgar many† they will definitely revolt against the set social norms and order (Mason 2004). In fact, those rulers should be those people who know and acknowledge that there is no morality or ethics, and that oppression should be applied among the masses to ensure no one challenged the big lie. Strauss galvanizes this argument by asserting that, people should not told about such fundamental truths and that selective teaching should be encouraged in order to keep the masses within the limits of noble lie(s). And that the masses need not be taught beyond what they ought to know (Postel 2003). Work Cited Mason, John, G. Leo Strauss and the Noble Lie: The Neo-Cons at War. Available at: http://www. logosjournal. com/mason. htm/ accessed on July 24, 2010. Pangle, Thomas, Ed. The laws of Plato by Plato. University of Chicago Press, 1988. Pfaff, William. â€Å"The Long Reach of Leo Strauss,† Op-Ed, International Herald Tribune, May 15, 2003. Postel, Danny. Noble lies and perpetual war: Leo Strauss, the neo-cons, and Iraq, October 16, 2003. Available at: http://www. opendemocracy. net/debates/ accessed on July 24, 2010. Urdaibay, Alan. Atheism Central for Secondary Schools, 1999. Available at; http://www. eclispe. co. uk/thoughts/noblelie. htm/ accessed on July 24, 2010.

Nicholas Nickleby :: essays research papers

Nicholas Nickleby In Nicholas Nickleby ,the play, Dickens dramatically portrays real life through his characters and the experiences they face. In the play the characters are very straight forward with their emotions and everything they do seems so extreme , but at the same time real. An example of this realism, in the play, is the character of Ralph Nickleby. He is a very conniving person who uses people and takes advantage of them whenever he gets the opportunity to do so. Personally he reminds me of a greedy business man who enjoys taking people and draining them for everything they are worth. Then when they run dry he is all of a sudden not their friend. Ralph Nickleby always seemed so evil and cold. I see many similarities between the characters of Ralph Nickleby and Scrooge from A Christmas Carol. They both are very greedy men who only care about themselves. Another very good example of realism in the play is Ralph Nickleby’s niece and nephew. Nicholas Nickleby and his sister Kate are very benevolent people. They are very caring and excepting of others. They reach out to the people who need it the most. When Nicholas saw Smike and the rest of Dotheboys Hall he was shocked and saddened to see how they were treated by the Squires. Nicholas and Kate are almost opposites of their uncle, Ralph. Smike is one of those people who make you feel bad when you feel sorry for your self because even though he had never really received love from anyone he was a loving and caring person. He was grateful of what he had when he had nothing. He was very appreciative of Nicholas’ and Kate’s caring treatment to him and he always made that clear. He is somebody who we could all learn a thing or two from. The Mantolini’s are a family of snobby people. They own a dress shop where the rich go for their clothing and that makes them believe that they are God’s gift. They are trying too hard to fit in with the rich

Sociology of Sport

Many in the community are not aware that the class of Sociology of Sport is offered in the school. Many who do recognize that the class is being offered in the school may also question the value and academic merit of such a course. What people don’t see is that the world of sports is closely linked to the social world. Social attitudes are reflected in the world of sports. These attitudes can be seen in different ways such as the social atmosphere affecting sports, the ways in which we define sports, exempting the world of sports from the world of citizenship and deviance in sports.Through these ways we can see how such a class can enlighten a person on sports and the real world. In this course of the Sociology of Sport, we intend to identify and understand the place of sports. We also underline the world of sports and see how the social atmosphere affects sports and vice versa. With New York City being a predominantly urban area, people who grow up in New York City are almost automatically more into the sport of basketball. The social atmosphere affects the interests of the social world largely. Being that it is an urban area, there is limited space within the city.The space that is available is usually converted into basketball courts due to the limited space and concrete floors. There is not enough space for a large field with grass in New York City. But if you were to go out more east towards Long Island and the Suffolk counties, you will see that the social atmosphere begins to change due to society. Out in Long Island, grass and trees are seen more often than in New York City due to more open spaces for people and their homes. Larger fields and different kinds of fields are seen more often. Due to more open space, a greater interest in lacrosse, soccer, and football is very apparent.Sports such as lacrosse is played in Long Island and never seen within the city. Long Island high school mostly have a lacrosse team while the only city high school to have a lacrosse team is Benjamin Cardozo which happens to be located in Bayside, Queens, the border between Queens and the Long Island counties. Sports participation affects family dynamics as well. The biggest dynamic that the participation of sports affects is time. Through my own experience I was able to see how much the dynamic of time was affected within our family.During high school, I used to have soccer practice every day except for Fridays. I remember getting out of school and running to the train to be able to make soccer practice at 4PM out in Long Island. I would get home, change and wait in the car for my mother to get home from work. My mother didn’t even have the chance to eat anything as my younger brother had to be drooped off at his practice first which was in Bayside then head off to my practice in Long Island at Hofstra University. Practice would be three hours and then it would be another hour of driving to pick up my younger brother and get home.We would arrive home around 9PM and I would have to manage to get my school work done and eat dinner with the family around 10PM. I always thought a sport was a team competition in which both teams compete to meet a goal and therefore a winner is determined. But I learned throughout the course that there are many different kinds of sports such as the ones we saw in the past winter Olympics with sports such as curling, or figure skating that are not always within a group or falls under the team category. Sport is whatever we or society, define it to be. Any organized sport requires money, equipment and time.The rules in each sport differ. The rules change to meet the cultural needs of a society. Rules are arbitrary. For example, when playing a game of tennis there has to be an agreement between the two players or teams that hitting the ball over the net and maintaining the ball within the area of the tennis court is fair play. One player cannot smash the ball out of the court and into the pa rking lot and call it a win because he had the strongest hit, unless there was an agreement between the two. This is why there must be a set of rules agreed upon the two players because they can play the game of tennis differently.A more visible example of rules changing to meet the cultural needs of a society is one that we see in our everyday lives while watching professional baseball or MLB. The Major League Baseball is divided into two leagues which are the National league and the American League. The American League has a designated hitter while the National League does not allow designated hitters within their rules. Rules do not conflict when teams of their respected leagues play against each other but when a team from the National League has to play against a team from the American League, rules conflict. Teams must now play according to home field rules.That means if the American League team happens to be the home team, rules apply for the allowance of a designated hitter. Back in the schoolyard, basketball rules are arbitrary all the time. Rules are less strict in the schoolyard compared to rules in the NBA or in college basketball. Players also cut some slack on less talented players who may constantly commit â€Å"travels† or â€Å"double dribbles†. Sports don’t exist in a cultural vacuum but the world of sports is very much like the world of masculinity. During the course we watched a video of â€Å"Killing Us Softly†, which has to do with the study of gender representation in advertising.It reviews if and how the image of women in advertising has changed over the last 20 years. With over 160 ads and TV commercials, as a viewer we see how women are portrayed and how the idea of masculinity is a never ending philosophy over the years. The images portray violence of women in society, such as a woman and a shadowy figure behind her. There are also ads of woman used as footstools, woman being murdered, and men as perpetrato rs of violence in community. The image of masculinity is deeply linked to violence. This social attitude is reflected into the world of sports with big muscular men and skinny women.The men always want to be the bigger and stronger man on the court whether it is on a basketball court and a player preferring to slam dunk over their opponent rather than a simple lay-up or on the football field and the players creating the most violent tackle of bringing their opponent to the ground and then taunting them. Even women in the WNBA are commercialized with makeup and sexualized in a way. People even say such a great tennis player as Serena Williams looks like a man or women weight lifters being men like or called â€Å"lesbians† for their â€Å"manly† features of having big muscles.Such players as Anna Kournikova who may have not won an important competition within their careers still manage to increase and gain more endorsements than a Serena Williams for their image of bein g attractive and feminine which appeal more to men and the public. Despite the many similarities that reflect from the â€Å"real world† to the world of sports, many of the realities that people would have to deal with in the â€Å"real world† they don’t have to go through in the world of sports. This raises the question of â€Å"what makes the world of sports exempt from the world of citizenship†?An example of this situation is of violence and deviance in sports. Recently during a women’s basketball game, one of the players turned and punched one of her opponents during game play. For this act of violence the player was suspended for two games and had to give an apology to the victim. If this same situation occurred in the â€Å"real world† in the street, that would be considered an assault crime and the aggressor would have gotten sued by the victim for physically hurting someone. Players in professional sports are perceived to perform dev iance when they are discovered to be using steroids for performance enhancing.But what deviance is there in using steroids for performance enhancing if some runners sleep in oxygen tanks the night before a competition? That would also be performance enhancing by receiving large masses of oxygen before a long race. If normal people do what athletes do to their bodies that would be self destructing themselves. Athletes at times force themselves to play on bad conditions and not only that but as I explained before, many professional athletes choose, knowingly, to take and consume steroids.Despite the proven effects, professional players still â€Å"break the rules† of sport and take such a substance to enhance their performances. Many of the social attitudes and atmospheres have proven to provide a great effect on people and the world of sports and the citizenship world. Many deviances and acts of violence show how much a difference the situation is handled in their environments . The realities and consequences of situations are different in the world of sports than to the world of citizenship. With this course I was able to learn how to relate attitudes and situations and analyze how linked both worlds are. Sociology of Sport Many in the community are not aware that the class of Sociology of Sport is offered in the school. Many who do recognize that the class is being offered in the school may also question the value and academic merit of such a course. What people don’t see is that the world of sports is closely linked to the social world. Social attitudes are reflected in the world of sports. These attitudes can be seen in different ways such as the social atmosphere affecting sports, the ways in which we define sports, exempting the world of sports from the world of citizenship and deviance in sports.Through these ways we can see how such a class can enlighten a person on sports and the real world. In this course of the Sociology of Sport, we intend to identify and understand the place of sports. We also underline the world of sports and see how the social atmosphere affects sports and vice versa. With New York City being a predominantly urban area, people who grow up in New York City are almost automatically more into the sport of basketball. The social atmosphere affects the interests of the social world largely. Being that it is an urban area, there is limited space within the city.The space that is available is usually converted into basketball courts due to the limited space and concrete floors. There is not enough space for a large field with grass in New York City. But if you were to go out more east towards Long Island and the Suffolk counties, you will see that the social atmosphere begins to change due to society. Out in Long Island, grass and trees are seen more often than in New York City due to more open spaces for people and their homes. Larger fields and different kinds of fields are seen more often. Due to more open space, a greater interest in lacrosse, soccer, and football is very apparent.Sports such as lacrosse is played in Long Island and never seen within the city. Long Island high school mostly have a lacrosse team while the only city high school to have a lacrosse team is Benjamin Cardozo which happens to be located in Bayside, Queens, the border between Queens and the Long Island counties. Sports participation affects family dynamics as well. The biggest dynamic that the participation of sports affects is time. Through my own experience I was able to see how much the dynamic of time was affected within our family.During high school, I used to have soccer practice every day except for Fridays. I remember getting out of school and running to the train to be able to make soccer practice at 4PM out in Long Island. I would get home, change and wait in the car for my mother to get home from work. My mother didn’t even have the chance to eat anything as my younger brother had to be drooped off at his practice first which was in Bayside then head off to my practice in Long Island at Hofstra University. Practice would be three hours and then it would be another hour of driving to pick up my younger brother and get home.We would arrive home around 9PM and I would have to manage to get my school work done and eat dinner with the family around 10PM. I always thought a sport was a team competition in which both teams compete to meet a goal and therefore a winner is determined. But I learned throughout the course that there are many different kinds of sports such as the ones we saw in the past winter Olympics with sports such as curling, or figure skating that are not always within a group or falls under the team category. Sport is whatever we or society, define it to be. Any organized sport requires money, equipment and time.The rules in each sport differ. The rules change to meet the cultural needs of a society. Rules are arbitrary. For example, when playing a game of tennis there has to be an agreement between the two players or teams that hitting the ball over the net and maintaining the ball within the area of the tennis court is fair play. One player cannot smash the ball out of the court and into the pa rking lot and call it a win because he had the strongest hit, unless there was an agreement between the two. This is why there must be a set of rules agreed upon the two players because they can play the game of tennis differently.A more visible example of rules changing to meet the cultural needs of a society is one that we see in our everyday lives while watching professional baseball or MLB. The Major League Baseball is divided into two leagues which are the National league and the American League. The American League has a designated hitter while the National League does not allow designated hitters within their rules. Rules do not conflict when teams of their respected leagues play against each other but when a team from the National League has to play against a team from the American League, rules conflict. Teams must now play according to home field rules.That means if the American League team happens to be the home team, rules apply for the allowance of a designated hitter. Back in the schoolyard, basketball rules are arbitrary all the time. Rules are less strict in the schoolyard compared to rules in the NBA or in college basketball. Players also cut some slack on less talented players who may constantly commit â€Å"travels† or â€Å"double dribbles†. Sports don’t exist in a cultural vacuum but the world of sports is very much like the world of masculinity. During the course we watched a video of â€Å"Killing Us Softly†, which has to do with the study of gender representation in advertising.It reviews if and how the image of women in advertising has changed over the last 20 years. With over 160 ads and TV commercials, as a viewer we see how women are portrayed and how the idea of masculinity is a never ending philosophy over the years. The images portray violence of women in society, such as a woman and a shadowy figure behind her. There are also ads of woman used as footstools, woman being murdered, and men as perpetrato rs of violence in community. The image of masculinity is deeply linked to violence. This social attitude is reflected into the world of sports with big muscular men and skinny women.The men always want to be the bigger and stronger man on the court whether it is on a basketball court and a player preferring to slam dunk over their opponent rather than a simple lay-up or on the football field and the players creating the most violent tackle of bringing their opponent to the ground and then taunting them. Even women in the WNBA are commercialized with makeup and sexualized in a way. People even say such a great tennis player as Serena Williams looks like a man or women weight lifters being men like or called â€Å"lesbians† for their â€Å"manly† features of having big muscles.Such players as Anna Kournikova who may have not won an important competition within their careers still manage to increase and gain more endorsements than a Serena Williams for their image of bein g attractive and feminine which appeal more to men and the public. Despite the many similarities that reflect from the â€Å"real world† to the world of sports, many of the realities that people would have to deal with in the â€Å"real world† they don’t have to go through in the world of sports. This raises the question of â€Å"what makes the world of sports exempt from the world of citizenship†?An example of this situation is of violence and deviance in sports. Recently during a women’s basketball game, one of the players turned and punched one of her opponents during game play. For this act of violence the player was suspended for two games and had to give an apology to the victim. If this same situation occurred in the â€Å"real world† in the street, that would be considered an assault crime and the aggressor would have gotten sued by the victim for physically hurting someone. Players in professional sports are perceived to perform dev iance when they are discovered to be using steroids for performance enhancing.But what deviance is there in using steroids for performance enhancing if some runners sleep in oxygen tanks the night before a competition? That would also be performance enhancing by receiving large masses of oxygen before a long race. If normal people do what athletes do to their bodies that would be self destructing themselves. Athletes at times force themselves to play on bad conditions and not only that but as I explained before, many professional athletes choose, knowingly, to take and consume steroids.Despite the proven effects, professional players still â€Å"break the rules† of sport and take such a substance to enhance their performances. Many of the social attitudes and atmospheres have proven to provide a great effect on people and the world of sports and the citizenship world. Many deviances and acts of violence show how much a difference the situation is handled in their environments . The realities and consequences of situations are different in the world of sports than to the world of citizenship. With this course I was able to learn how to relate attitudes and situations and analyze how linked both worlds are.

Parallels Between Witchcraft And Mccarthyism - 1405 Words

Parallels Between Witchcraft and McCarthyism During the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, and McCarthyism all across America many of the traits were historically similar and based on little or no evidence. When looking back on witchcraft in the 1600s and McCarthyism in the 1940s and 50s life at the time had many influences and many things parallel; both were caused by fear and paranoia and resulted in destruction. The witch trials in Salem and the hearings all across America about McCarthyism were influenced by daily activities and daily life. The Salem witch trials happened when Puritanism was a major religion, so when people were accused of worshipping the devil this was crazy for citizens to think of because they were so†¦show more content†¦These people were suspected of helping the Communist country, so this Cold War hostility helped to determine the harsh punishment given to the suspected communist. There was a â€Å"list of questionable organizations . . . that were considered disloyal† (Reeves). One could be put on this list simply because the boss did not get along with the employee. Anyone, even the loyalist, and most trustworthy people, could be tried for Communism. Many innocent people s lives were forever changed by the insane acts of this time. Although most events during these two time periods parallel some think things do not. Mrs. Kanzan of â€Å"The Demons of Salem, With Us Still† does not think that Salem and McCarthyism parallel. She thinks the exact opposite, that witches did not exist but Communism does. She calls it â€Å"a false parallel† (Navasky) because they do not match up enough to one another. Mrs. Kanzan might think that, but many at the time did not see it that way, they thought that both were real although they ultimately were over exaggerated and unnecessary. The Salem witch trials and the McCarthy hearings happened in different time periods, but have the same general ideas. These people would be considered free of the devil once they name others whom they had seen with the devil, if people refused to name others they would be hanged or put in jail awaiting a trial. During McCarthyism, which started during the Cold War, many government workers were accused of being SovietShow MoreRelatedThe Themes Of Mccarthyism In The Crucible By Arthur Miller1685 Words   |  7 PagesPeople often lie if they must choose between telling the truth which would ruin their lives or lie and accuse others to save oneself. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller emphasizes mass hysteria caused by people accusing innocent people to save oneself from death. Even though the Salem witch trials and the McCarthyism era took place in different time periods, they both show the reoccurring theme of chaos caused by lying and accusing others to save oneself. The Crucible, which i llustrates the time duringRead MoreComparing The Crucible And Mccarthyism861 Words   |  4 PagesThe Crucible, many people were accused of practicing witchcraft. The ones who confessed, were sentenced to jail and the ones who denied it, were killed. The only way they had to prove what was being done, was spectral evidence. Therefore, the only person known to tell the truth was the victim. McCarthyism involved communists, like The Crucible, those who were accused were sentenced to jail time. The parallels between The Crucible and McCarthyism are naming names, the lack of evidence, and rebellionRead MoreMccarthyism : Salem Witch Trials1246 Words   |  5 Pagesthe Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts and McCarthyism all across America many of the traits were historically similar and based on little or no evidence. When looking back on witchcraft in the 1600s and McCarthyism in the 1940s and 50s life at the time had many influences and many things parallel; both were caused by fear and paranoia and resulted in destruction. The witch trials in Salem and the hearings all across America about McCarthyism were influenced by daily activities and daily lifeRead MoreAnarthyism And Mccarthyism In Arthur Millers The Crucible774 Words   |  4 Pagessense of paranoia throughout the country. In the mid-nineteen hundreds, McCarthyism, initiated by Joseph McCarthy’s accusation of 205 Communists and the use of unjust methods to hunt Communists, arose. As this era emerged, Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible, which highlighted and dramaticized the scandal of the 1692 Salem witch trials, gained popularity and opened on Broadway. Though the two events in American history, McCarthyism and the witch trials, lie almost 300 years apart, Miller’s The CrucibleRead MoreArthur Millers The Crucible And The Second Red Scare1293 Words   |  6 Pagesfearful†¦of being identified as Communists† (Miller â€Å"Why I Wrote The Crucible†). Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is an effective allego ry due to Miller connecting Salem to McCarthyism by the showing the people of Salem being driven into rash actions and unjust court systems because of their paranoid spirits. The most apparent similarities between Salem and the Second Red Scare are the trials themselves, however, Miller does not utilize them as his strongest connections. Miller creates the most connectionsRead MoreSimilarities Between The Red Scare And The Crucible1506 Words   |  7 PagesConor Regan Mr. Young American Lit Honors 9/29/17 Wicked Witch of the USA: The Parallels Between The Crucible and the Red Scare Imagine the panic when there is the possibility that anyone around who looks no different than everyone else is relaying information to the enemies. Having no idea if the neighbors who have lived there for 15 years are actually spies. Having no idea if there was a real threat of danger right around the block. This is the type of concern spread by Senator Joseph McCarthyRead MoreAurthur Millers The Crucible and McCarthyism Essay664 Words   |  3 PagesThe message in which Miller writes teaches teenagers about what life was like in the centuries before their time, and what some of the themes in those times were; which are also parallel to what happened during Miller’s lifetime, in the era of McCarthyism, as it does in today’s social and political problems. All three of these eras have intolerance, hysteria, reputation, and empowerment woven throughout them. This is one of the reasons they are connected to each other. Teenagers learn many differentRead More Connecting McCarthyism and The Crucible Essay1375 Words   |  6 Pagessenator from Wisconsin, began accusing people of being communists or communist sympathizers, which is parallel to the Salem witch trials in the late 1690s when innocent people were accused of practicing witchcraft. One of the people McCarthy accused was author and playwright Arthur Miller. To express his outrage at McCarthy’s actions, miller wrote The Crucible, intentionally drawing similarities between the McCarthy hearings and the Salem witch trials. Miller directly targets McCarthy through theRead MoreSalem vs McCarthyism Essay1648 Words   |  7 Pageswhere they would be wrong. This scenario just presented not only perfectly describes the Salem Witch Trials, but it also perfectly describes the Red Scare of the 1950s and the practice of McCarthyism that went on during it. I’d like to take a look at the parallels between the Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism of the 1950s. Let’s begin with the famous Salem Witch trials of 1692. It all started in the Puritan communities around the area of Salem Massachusetts. The Puritans were a very upstandingRead MoreEssay on The Witch Hearings in The Crucible by Arthur Miller1058 Words   |  5 PagesThe Witch Hearings in The Crucible by Arthur Miller There are strong parallels between Arthur Millers The Crucible and the history it depicts and the reign of terror that the 1950s era of McCarthyism repeated. These two historical events are linked by several commonalities: a lack of intelligent discussion, public hysteria, threats, fear and finally, the presumption of guilt rather than innocence. Miller convincingly uses fiction and dialogue to recreate a very real moment in history, which