It is not uncommon for a small insignificant lie to roll downhill and become an uncontrollable snowball. This same analogy applies to collective hysterias; a person's fear of someone or something easily spreads from person to person, growing into massive chaos. An example of a collective hysteria is illustrated in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible, for a group of young girls in Salem caused its population to doubt the sanctity that once dominated, making people fear and believe in the dark witchcraft forces among them. As this took place, the town unconsciously divided itself into those who believed in witchcraft, and those who relentlessly condemned its existence in town. In the play, the characters Anne Putnam and Rebecca Nurse illustrate these opposing views; Anne being one who secretly sides with witchcraft while Rebecca openly condemns it. These two characters demonstrate an abysmal contrast in their attitudes and beliefs, sharing very few similarities. .
In the reader's view, Anne Putnam was one of the female characters most likely to be linked with witchcraft, for she demonstrated several signs of siding with this dark concept and even indirectly practicing it. Anne Putnam instructed her child Ruth to join with Tituba so they could conjure her perished son's and daughter's spirits. Most mothers in Salem were reprimanding their daughters for involving themselves in the black arts, but Mrs. Putnam was instigating her daughter to be part of these acts, and yet played a saint's role in society by condoning people involved in witchcraft. Moreover, Mrs. Putnam was one of the many people who signed the accusation against Rebecca Nurse, even when she had paid her a favor by serving as a midwife during the labor of her eight children. She indirectly blamed her for the death of seven of her eight children, only supporting her accusation by stating that she had been her midwife, thus she was responsible for the death of all.
