"On the Waterfront" and "The Crucible"

Paper Summary:

During the McCarthy era of the 1950s, countless individuals, some innocent and some guilty, were subjected to a wide range of injustices and punishments, ranging from ridicule in society to the loss of their very lives. This paper discusses how two dramatic works, the play "The Crucible" by playwright Arthur Miller and "On the Waterfront", a film directed by Elia Kazan can both be seen as parables that are illustrative of the events of the McCarthy Era itself. The paper looks at how both works are examples of parable of McCarthyism because of the fact that in both the play and the film, the main characters, the environment in which they are placed and the situations/trials they endure are closely parallel to the events of 1950s America.

From the Paper:

"Quite literally as well, many felt in the 1950s that Joseph McCarthy was in fact conducting its own sort of witch hunt, equating people accused of being communists with witches or demons, just like the situation of the Salem witch trials, which formed the backbone of "The Crucible" plot and action. Also, in this play as in "On the Waterfront", abuse of power and the ensuing corruption was alive and well. A quote from "The Crucible" makes this point quite well: "A person is either with the court or he must be counted against it-there be no road in between" (Miller, p.87). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. Penguin, 1995.Print. (p.3-134).
• Neve, Brian. "On the Waterfront." History Today June 1995: 19+.
• Peters, Charles. "McCarthyism: Myth and Reality." Washington Monthly May 2006: 8.
• Vanmeenen, Karen. "Elia Kazan, 1909-2003." Afterimage 31.3 (2003): 2.

More papers on "On the Waterfront" and "The Crucible":

• Comparison Essay # 75457 : "The Crucible" and "On the Waterfront" "
• Analytical Essay # 123547 : "Miller, Kazan and McCarthyism"
• Analytical Essay # 52273 : "Homer's "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey"

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