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20th-Century American Literature Videos 31 videos
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The Crucible 79904 Views
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Description:
The Salem Witch Trials in the 17th century. The Red Scare in the 1950s. Little to no evidence that witches/communists were anywhere close to taking over the world. Arthur Miller, who lived through the McCarthy era and wrote The Crucible about the witch trials, saw that both were driven by the intense fear of change and the unknown. Can you think of anything similar that's happened in the 21st century?
Transcript
- 00:04
"The Crucible," a la Shmoop: You pointin' at ME?
- 00:10
In Arthur Miller's play "The Crucible"... ...the finger-pointing of the townspeople
- 00:19
seems to mirror the McCarthyism of the 1950s.
- 00:21
Have we, as a nation, learned anything from past episodes like the Salem witch trials...
- 00:27
...or are we still repeating old mistakes?
Full Transcript
- 00:32
Are we accusing innocent groups of people when it suits our agenda, just as Abigail
- 00:39
did in "The Crucible"? The '50s were a long time ago.
- 00:45
Life was seemingly idyllic on the surface. The Red Scare of the 50s proved otherwise.
- 00:53
We accused and convicted people from all walks of life as being Communists...
- 00:57
... often with little more than an accusation from someone trying to save their own skin.
- 01:02
Can you say, "modern day witch hunt?" It's eerily similar to how many residents
- 01:12
of Salem were accused of practicing witchcraft in "The Crucible"...
- 01:15
Many innocent people were ruined after being accused of being Communists during the Red
- 01:19
Scare. Surely we've evolved since then, right?
- 01:24
We believe everyone deserves a fair trial, yes?
- 01:28
We're innocent until proven guilty... true? Maybe we'll never learn.
- 01:34
Perhaps it is just human nature to be accusatory. Especially if there are things about a group
- 01:41
of people we don't...or won't...understand. There are currently plenty of accusations
- 01:46
flying around aimed at different types of people...
- 01:49
...where some are still pointing fingers at those they see as somehow "different" or "inferior."
- 01:56
Cyber bullies abuse others from the comfort of their homes...
- 02:00
...and the victims of their malice are becoming clinically depressed, turning to drugs and
- 02:03
alcohol... and worse. And yet, we're still condemning groups of
- 02:07
people. Our trials are not always fair for those accused.
- 02:15
And many of them play out in public. Where everybody seems to have a voice - pointing
- 02:21
fingers and passing judgments. So when are we going to stop pointing fingers?
- 02:27
Will it finally happen when the finger is pointed at you?
- 02:31
Shmoop amongst yourselves.
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