both Proctor and Miller are both concerned with are their names, their reputations. Lies are what got these occurrences started and both men refuse to take part in such dishonesty. In the play, Proctor proclaims the following- "Because it is my name! Because I cannot have another in my life (Martine, Politics 69)!" As Proctor wrestles with his conscience, a former Miller associate told the truth about his past membership in the Communist party and mentioned several other names. Miller refuses to say anything against his associate though he was aware of such actions. They fear losing their reputation, and in Proctor's case his life, but neither will further any of the dishonesty. Miller's theme encompassing both the McCarthy and witch trial is man judging man. Similar to those people convicted in the McCarthy trials, the "witches" hanged were not upholding witchcraft against the true church; they were upholding their own personal integrity against an insanely mistaken community (Corrigan 119). What lies behind the procedures s of both was a familiar American need to assert a recoverable innocence even if the only guarantee of such innocence lay in the displacement of guilt onto others (Miller, Crucible x). A horrible aftermath accompanied both trials. Senator McCarthy built up a style of contention that was to be admired by his supporters and to be deplored and even feared by his opponents, a style of which the principle elements were recklessness in accusation, careless inaccuracy of statement, and abuse of those who criticized him (2). The first year of the Eisenhower era saw McCarthy at his peak. In the second, he was brought down and condemned. The reason why McCarthy was brought down was well said by Arthur Miller – "The army defeated McCarthy. He attacked a general, and that was a deadly mistake" (Corrigan 38). McCarthy went too far in his accusations. In 1954, he accused the U.S. Army, which resulted in a...
