accoladed.com

 ‘The Crucible’ was a play written in 1953 by Arthur Miller and effectively exposes American history by illustrating two events with comparable effects, primarily showing society’s mistrust of change. These events are the 17^th century Salem Witch Hunts and the 1950’s communism scare, also known as the ‘Red Scare’ or McCarthyism. In The Crucible Miller has used the town of Salem in Massachusetts along with the Witch Hunts as a metaphor for the 1950’s communism scare. There are detectable similarities between the two historical events.

These include:

• Fear Mongering
• Inadequate protection of rights resulting in unjust outcomes
• Beliefs and values of the different societies

Most comparative is society repeating the consequences of the Salem Witch Hunts of the 1690’s again in the 1950’s, with equally devastating results.

• Timeline of The Salem Witch Trails.
• Timeline of the McCarthyism Trials.