Modern Day “Witchcraft” Hysteria

                When Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible, he was inspired by the Red Scare of the 1950s.  That was one example of modern day witchcraft hysteria, minus about 60 years.  During the Red Scare government officials accused anyone and everyone of being communist.  The accusations became illogical and frankly, ridiculous, just like the accusations of witchcraft in The Crucible became a frenzy of “he said-she said”.  There are even more recent examples of this mass hysteria in history, and even some that are still going on today.

                Ever since the terrorist attacks on September 11^th, a new stereotype has been placed on people of Middle Eastern and Indian descent: terrorist.  The hysteria has calmed down a bit since then, but in the years following 9/11, almost all Middle Eastern people were cast out of society and suspected by others as terrorists, even though hardly any were.  They were discriminated against at air ports, among other places, because supposedly they were all suicide bombers who wanted to blow up America.  Of course, this was completely untrue for the majority of the population, but people still felt this way toward this specific group of people.  Accusations of being a terrorist became completely impulsive with no proof whatsoever.  This is what Arthur Miller depicts in The Crucible.