Arthur Miller’s The Crucible reveals the human tendency to point the finger at others when one feels threatened. Often times, those blamed are completely innocent. For example, in The Crucible, many innocent people were accused. Said best by Judith Cerjak, “For every ill in Salem, witchcraft is the scapegoat.” (56) One of the main accusers in the play is a young teenage girl by the name of Abigail Williams. Abigail, along with a group of other girls, is caught dancing in the woods, an activity that is forbidden in the strict Puritan village. “Why does Abigail accuse the local women of witchcraft? It is because she herself fears being accused of witchcraft, and rather than be accused she chooses to accuse others.” (Cerjak 57) Clearly, it is the threat of both punishment and accusations that leads Abigail to point the finger at the innocents of the village. One of the Salem citizens that Abigail accuses is a woman by the name of Elizabeth Proctor. Throughout The Crucible, Elizabeth is portrayed as a good, kind woman, who would never convene with the Devil. Complicating the situation is an affair that Abigail had in the recent past with Elizabeth’s husband, John Proctor. In the play, Abigail expresses her desire to rekindle her romance with John when she says, “I know you, John. I know you. I cannot sleep for dreamin’; I cannot dream but I wake and walk about the house as though I’d find you comin’ through some door.” (Miller, Crucible 839) Although Abby still wishes to be with John Proctor, she fears that his marriage to Elizabeth will prevent any further close relations. Therefore, she accuses Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft, ultimately because she feels threatened by Elizabeth’s relationship with John.

In order to combat one’s own fear, it is human tendency to accuse others, regardless of guilt or innocence. Throughout American history, there have been hundreds and thousands of occurrences where fear and threats led to the innocent being wrongly accused and condemned. Examples of this can be found when studying the Salem Witch Trials, The Great Red Scare (McCarthyism), and even the recent terrorist attacks on America. “We must discourage witch hunts that tear lives apart. It is too dear a price to pay.” (Hopkins 26) The many witch hunts that have occurred in American history have resulted in thousands of innocent victims paying for a community’s fear with their reputations, their pride, and even at times, their lives.

ing the discrimination that has occurred as a result of the recent terrorist attacks on the United States, a distinct parallel can be seen between the current situation, the period of McCarthyism, and the Salem Witch Trials. Throughout the analy

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