Events and characters in Millers play reveal the dramatic, anxious, and hysterical actions and allegations that came with The Red Scare. A parallel between McCarthys world and The Crucible is how the people reacted to the thoughts of witches or communists infiltrating their societies and how that resulted in hysteria throughout towns. In Salem confessing and giving up others “witches” was a way to get out of your noose, but was also a way to augment the rumors of witches in Salem. Tituba was forgiven because she confessed to dealing with the devil and for giving up Goody Osborne and Sarah Good. Then Goody Osborne and Sarah Good were known to be witches, proving witches had come onto Salem, and seeding doubts of others innocence and purity.
In The Crucible, the people of the town who werent involved in witchcraft opposed it and didn’t like it and thought it was corrupt worshing of the devil. They didn’t believe they way of life they lived and what they did day to day. In result, the people of the town accused many people and lots were hanged, pressed, decaptiated, or killed by many other means. In the end, both stories consisted of many innocent people getting killed or losing the value of their life that they’ve been preparing, all solemnly based on accusations and judgements, resulting in “witch-hunts” to find and persecute innocent people
When the girls didn’t tell the truth about them being frauds, it was getting them in even more trouble. Every time Abigail aided in the prosecution of an innocent towns person, that person was being harmed because they were most likely to be hung. Abigail knew that what she was doing was wrong, but she continued to do it. She ignored the signs and clues telling her that she was harming herself and others, which is a characteristic of an antitranscendentalist. Not only did Abigail ignore these signs and clues but Captain Ahab from Moby Dick also did.
Due to fear of punishment, innocent names were revealed, which not only fueled the belief that Communists were penetrating society, but it also sustained the apprehensive searches for these wanted people. These accusations branded many people as traitors to the United States, and this label ruined their careers and reputations. Likewise, The Crucible’s witch trials were based upon false accusations as well. As Hale was questioning Tituba and her involvement with the devil, he persuaded her to name other involved individuals, saying, “You are God’s instrument put into our hands to discover the Devil’s agents among us. .
He and many other are able to get away with this because hysteria driven persecutions are not run like regular courts and the fact that witchcraft is an invisible crime allows evidence to be made up. The theme of The Crucible is when any persecution is driven by fear and people can and will manipulate the system so they can gain and hurt another. Thomas Putnam takes advantage of the hysteria driven persecutions to gain more land for himself, but at the expense of others. Thomas Putnam is “ a man with many grievances” (Miller 14) and, because of this, he has a very bitter personality and cares little about others. This bitter and vindictive personality of his causes him to value himself far above others.
In the Salem witch trials people feared being accused of witchcraft , likewise in the McCarthy trials people were afraid of a communist accusation. Ultimately society is to blame for the devastation left in both the wake of the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy trials, because individuals feared exposing the truth in order to maintain their well being. People as a whole are stronger than one because one person can only fuel the fear. One person can only speak his or her opinion and try to coerce people into agreeing with it .People as a whole choose whether or not to accept these opinions. In the Crucible, one of the main characters Abigail a selfish and manipulative girl used fear to turn community members against each other.
Abigail Williams and John Proctor had already had an affair. However, unlike Abigail, John wanted to leave that horrible mistake in the past and forget about her. Abigail also did not like other women in Salem because they called her names. They knew of her lust for men, so Abigail took the initiative and they were also charged.
Fear of being arrested or put to death is the key motivation in turning others in as witches. From these three human flaws, the town of Salem falls into chaos with many innocent people paying the price. Vengeance plays a key role in causing the mass hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail Williams, who?s probably most to blame for the trials, acts out of revenge. She and John Proctor have had an affair and when Elizabeth Proctor finds out, she throws Abigail out of their house.
Abigail is also motivated by a desire of revenge throughout. She is seen as vindictive and doesn’t want to be hung because of these trials. Abigail was a housemaid for John Proctor at one point until John Proctor’s wife fired her. John lusted upon Abby and committed adultery with her because of this she was kicked her out of the house. So she stops at almost nothing to convince the court that Goody Proctor is a witch so she can have John Proctor all to herself.
The minister of the town, Samuel Parris, not only didn’t help the problem, but added fuel to the fire by telling the town that witches were everywhere and that no one could be trusted. Since people were allowed to testify in court about spirits talking to them, everyone backstabbed each other in order to financially gain another’s property. If you were convicted of being a witch the only way to escape death was to confess.