Comparing Crucible With 9/11 Attack

After the terrorist attacks on America, people of Islamic culture have been derided, punished, and are terrified of. Clearly displaying the results of discrimination against witches in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, we as Americans must not discriminate against others, especially Muslims. We must prevent this from recurring by educating the public, learning from prior situations, and living in accord.

The task of educating the public is often a very difficult and daunting challenge. Subsequent to the attacks on America, Muslims have been reprimanded because of their race and religion. The public must be educated that not everyone of the Muslim group and Islam faith is part of the terrorism. To do this, the government should have classes teaching citizens about the Muslim people and Islam. In The Crucible, Arthur Miller shows the lack of cautiousness in the government of Salem. Everybody accused of being a witch was arrested and it was not until too late that the people of the trials were cleared of the charges and reparations were made. Following John Proctor’s example in The Crucible, people today should not jump to conclusions about the Muslims and see what is happening.

Past situations showed that mass hysteria and a mob mentality have placed an unjust and biased burden upon groups of people that have resulted in some very heinous and severe consequences. Arthur Miller seizes the essence of the witch-hunt by showing how a few people that are able to play off the collective fear of the society can cause a lot of damage. Three Arabs were trying to get back home, but passengers riding the same plane as the Arabs refused to ride in the same plane as them, terrified of suspicion of terrorism. The three Arabs were not allowed to ride the airplane. In The Crucible, Hale exclaims, ?Life, woman, life is God?s most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it?(132). The discrimination against the Arabs at the airport showed that, they did not have the ability to choose to ride the plane because of their race. Having learned what happened in the past when accusations fly without reason behind them, we can learn to apply our knowledge and prevent the same from happening in modern times.

Living in peace and harmony with everyone is beneficial since Arthur Miller shows in The Crucible, if a resident loathes another, that can lead to a great suffer in the community. It tears the town apart because people are accusing other people so that they can benefit from them. Hysteria suspends the rules of daily life and allows the acting out of every dark desire and hateful urge under the cover of righteousness. The moral and state laws were the same; they were very intolerant. Trying to live in peace and harmony with everyone is a very difficult task. We can do this by being tolerant to other people, religion, and culture and also by not falsely accusing people so that you can benefit from their made up wrongdoings.

There are a lot of things Americans can do to prevent discrimination in the future, or another ?witch-hunt? from happening. We must do something to prevent an innocent Arab from being persecuted, and later finding out his innocence. By learning from history, Americans can save innocent peoples? lives and create less tension against the Muslims. In Arthur Miller?s The Crucible, Danforth exclaims, ?If it is a lie I will not accept it!?(132)?. We need to learn from his blindness to be patient and not jump to conclusions, so that we will not accept the lies we will produce.