Justice, Identity, and Collective Conscience in a Globalised World: A Study of The Crucible and After the Fall

This paper explores Arthur Miller’s The Crucible (1953) and After the Fall (1964) as critical texts that interrogate justice, personal identity, and collective conscience within both historical and contemporary frameworks. While The Crucible functions as a public allegory rooted in the political hysteria of McCarthyism and the Salem witch trials, After the Fall offers a deeply introspective exploration of guilt, memory, and moral ambiguity in the aftermath of personal and historical trauma. Drawing on theoretical insights from Michel Foucault, Hannah Arendt, John Rawls, Zygmunt Bauman, and Edward Said, the study analyses how Miller’s characters navigate fractured identities and ethical crises in systems shaped by surveillance, scapegoating, and ideological conformity. The paper further examines the transnational relevance of these plays in light of global justice movements, cancel culture, and the reconfiguration of collective moral consciousness in the digital age. Ultimately, the study argues that Miller’s dramaturgy transcends its historical origins to provide a profound meditation on the ethical limits of human conscience and the enduring struggle for justice in a globalised, post-truth world.