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Both in Salem, Massachusetts and the country of Oceania, it’s residents had to follow strict laws without question. For example, in Salem everyone was expected to know their Ten Commandments and to not know it would be counted as being a non-puritan. When John Proctor is asked to recall his Ten Commandments, he forgets adultery. Reverend Hale at this point while having a deep thought and with a worried face lets Proctor know that even something like that cannot be counted as a small thing and excused as it is the duty for every puritan to know this.
Things like this were not accepted in a superstitious society like Salem. This made the society Of Salem no different to the society of Oceania as both societies thought that to have a perfect society meant that the people had to sacrifice their free will in exchange. The people of Salem woke up, went to church, worked, and slept as an everyday cycle of life. In Oceania, where people are controlled and oppressed by the Party, led by the Big Brother, free speech, rebellious and independent thought are forbidden.
People who fail to abide by the strict laws are taken away by the Thought Police and punished severely for disobeying the Party. In 1984, the main character Winston Smith, is employed as a records editor. Disliking the current government, he starts a journal of his rebellious thoughts against the Party. If discovered, this journal will result in his execution. To be safe, Winston only writes when safe from the view of the surveying telecasters. Although McCarthy is evident in both The Crucible and 1 984, the authors convey McCarthy a bit differently in both stories.
One difference is that The Crucible was set in a different time and with a different type of system or government controlling he society. Although both had strict laws that its residents had to abide by without question, 1984 had a totalitarian government that was tightly controlled and everyone was monitored closely, while in The Crucible was set in a time of superstition and religious extremism that controlled the day today choices of life. In The Crucible, girls accused others for having relations with the devil.
The accused would then be sent to trial, most often, the accused would find themselves guilty for something they did not commit, and be sentences to death or imprisonment. In 1984, when en was found to be disobeying the strict laws set in Oceania, such as when Winston was found to be in a love affair with another of the main characters Julia, he was taken away by the Thought Police to be tortured brutally. Winston torturer quizzes Winston asking him how many fingers he was holding up, Winston replies “four” as he is being constantly tortured. Four, Stop it, stop I it! How can you go on? Four! Four! ‘ ‘How many fingers, Winston? ‘ ‘Five! Five! Five! ‘ This time the exclamation marks show the pain and weakening of Winston individualist beliefs. The last sentence, he cries out ‘Five! Five! Five! ‘ which was the point he had given up. The pain, for believing in something he wanted to believe had only brought him pain and us offering; Arthur Miller and George Orwell have similar views towards the theme of Power and Authority Both readings also show how easily power can be corrupted.
Millers views of rebellion was that if there is something wrong being done in front of your eyes and if you have a chance of making it right, you should because if a system is corrupted, this needs to be pointed out to people. Orwell on the other hand tries to show that if we don’t question our government or head of states for every decision they make, it could be a fatal mistake because once they have got control of everything; as demonstrated in the 1 984, there it is nearly impossible to change things to the way it was.
Rebellion was shown by Winston even though he knew there was no change he could bring by going against the party. In 1 984 Winston tried to stand up for what was right, but it was no use because the party was much stronger than one person, Winston himself. Unlike Proctor who had his free will and made his own decision to die trying, Winston didn’t eave a choice of not rebelling as he didn’t have the same free will that Proctor had.
Both the Crucible and 1 984 concerns with society, in The Crucible it shows that people were free in its society, while in 1 984, it shows that individual free will was a danger to the party and was not allowed in its society. In Conclusion , it is clear that McCarthy is evident in both the play “The Crucible” and the novel 1 984 although conveyed a bit differently one can find some similarities regarding McCarthy in both readings. In both The Crucible and 1984 , it’s residents must follow strict saws affecting their everyday life.