The Crucible is paralleled directly to the Salem Witch Trials and indirectly to the McCarthy hearings of the 1950’s. The story of The Crucible takes place against the background of the Salem Witch, trials but the themes lie much deeper. The main themes expressed in The Crucible relate to the events that occurred at both the Salem Witch Trials and during the McCarthy era. At the Salem Witch Trials, one hundred fifty people were accused of practicing witchcraft and nineteen of those were convicted and executed. The evidence against these people was hardly substantial. At the McCarthy

In 1692, the small town of Salem, Massachusetts was in a state of unrest. The farming families in the western part wanted to split from the town and form Salem Village. These separatists felt that Salem’s increasing economy was creating individualism and taking away from the communal nature of Puritanism. The family leading these separatists was the Putnam family. They started a congregation under Reverend Samuel Parris, which only increased division between the two blocs.

The first three to be accused were Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. They were easy targets because of their low social status and lack of church attendance. As time went on, members of Salem saw how easy it was to accuse someone of witchcraft and revenge became a huge factor. Men with high military rankings, and their wives, were accused because of sour feelings over military losses. Religious leaders, such as Reverend George Burroughs, were accused if they did not follow the Puritan Code to the letter. Abigail Williams accused Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft simply because she harbored feelings of resentment towards her and her husband John. Personal vengeance was a main cause for accusation. Things really got out of hand when people were being hanged because their specters were causing a disturbance. As one man puts it, Bridget Bishop could be not be punished because of her nuisance chickens, but was hanged because her specter had escaped her yard and scared her neighbor, John Louder.

hearings, thousands of people were “blacklisted.” Anyone who tried to oppose the accusations was also viewed as a Communist. No one was convicted due to the more advanced legal system; still, that did not erase the fear that was instilled by the allegations.

A similar thing happened with the McCarthy hearings in the 1950’s. It was not long after World War II, the cold war was taking place and Americans abhorred Communism. There was an unspoken but very real fear of Communists and the possibility of them overthrowing the American government. Senator Joseph McCarthy saw this weakness in American society and used it create a rampant panic. Just as in the Salem Witch Trials, people grabbed onto these accusations because they were willing to do anything to rid the nation of Communism.

The people of the town must have known how ridiculous these charges were but were afraid to admit it. They were afraid of

Some topics in this essay:
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