Wednesday, December 25, 2019

Salem Witch Trial vs Mccarthyism - 1208 Words

A review of A Fever in Salem: A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials, by Laurie Winn Carlson, Ivan R. Dee, Chicago, 2000; 224 pp. $14.95 Paperback. ISBN: 1-566633095 A FEVER IN SALEM POSITS A biological cause for the early modem witchcraft epidemic, which resulted in the hanging of 19 people in Salem, MA, in 1692. Witchcraft persecution, Laurie Carlson writes, arose because of the strange behavior of the supposedly bewitched accusers. She concludes that the cause was a disease unrecognizable by the science of the time: encephalitis. The history of the Salem witchcraft epidemic is well known. In the winter of 1692, two girls suffered convulsions and hallucinations, alarming fast their families and subsequently the entire†¦show more content†¦Is Carlson suggesting the epidemic actually had supernatural influences? Carlson also takes aim at the psychological profession, as she does in an earlier footnote comparing the late 15th century witch hunting guidebook, The Malleus Maleficarum, with the handbook of the American Psychological Association, the DSM-IV. Readers of SKEPTIC may be especially interested in Carlsons brief mention of women taken by planets while they slept, remarkably similar to modern descriptions of alien abductions. As interesting as all this is, especially to skeptics in search of natural causes for apparently supernatural events, A Fever in Salem is far from exemplary. Fundamentally, the evidence offered for the epidemiological hypothesis is inconclusive. I do not doubt Carlsons statement that historical epidemiology is inherently plausible, but this does not let her off the empirical hook. A Fever in Salems recounting of events beyond Salem is alternately superficial and contradictory, in spite of the authors own assertion that her hypothesis fails if it cannot be applied to Europe as well. Europe suffered under witchcraft accusations for more than a century, with approximately 100,000 casualties. Carlson hints that the Salem symptoms could be compared to what happened in Europe or other areas of New England, but never fully explores it. If she wants to build her case solely on Salem, discussion of witchcraft outside ofShow MoreRelatedThe Powerless- Analysing Mccarthyism Vs. The Salem Witch Trials2054 Words   |  9 PagesThe Empowerment of the Powerless- Analysing McCarthyism Vs. The Salem Witch Trials During the witch trials, almost two hundred innocent people were convicted of consorting with the Devil and practicing witchcraft, and a surprising twenty people were hanged for their lack of confession. The source for this mass hysteria, was nothing more than the silent influence of eleven young girls ranging from the age of nine to twenty-five. They began to accuse their neighbors of witchcraft, gaining them theRead MoreArthur Millers The Crucible And The Second Red Scare1293 Words   |  6 Pagesidentified as Communists† (Miller â€Å"Why I Wrote The Crucible†). Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is an effective allegory 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. 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Web. 21 Apr. 2016. .] The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, which was a puritan town.[endnoteRef:3] Reverend Parris is praying over his daughter, Betty, who appears toRead MoreThe Hands Of An Angry God1627 Words   |  7 Pagesdirected to a Puritan congregation urging with orthodox fervor for transgressors to repent. Arthur Miller wrote the allegorical play The Crucible in 1953, lively portraying the hysteria occurring during the Salem Witch Trials in an effort to describe his perceptions of the post-war climate of McCarthyism and the sheer terror of Communism. 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It is a well built Puritan society in which the citizens are bonded with the church. During this time McCarthyism was in play, it was the anti-communist suspicions into the U.S. The theme in the story The Crucible was honesty and truth versus scapegoat. Arthur Miller used the noose to lead the reader to the theme of honesty vs. scapegoat. The noose represents the most prevalent symbol in The CrucibleRead MoreThe Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx Essay2047 Words   |  9 Pageswith their followers. These followers then spread their fraudulent ideas, which often added greater fire to their passionate causes. This characteristic, exemplif ied in their own time period by McCarthyism, inspired both Miller and Bradbury to create their works. Bradbury, unsettled by the McCarthy trials, critiques the negative effects of communism in his projection of the near future. This near future involves a suppression of knowledge rooted in a ban on all books. Government leaders suppress

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