During the McCarthy Era, hundreds of people were accused of being communists, and many people were wrongly imprisoned. This was done out of fear, and fear can make a human do some pretty outrageous things, which is a pattern seen multiple times throughout history. The main problem of the "witch hunts" during the era was that the accusations were almost always based off of flimsy evidence, and the person accused was guilty until proven innocent, which should have been the other way around.
It also relates to The Crucible in the way that the townspeople were so afraid of the possibility of the devil trying to take over Salem, that they would believe things that they may not normally believe. An example of this is when the girls were accusing people left and right for witchcraft, the courtroom was shocked, and quickly exploded in conversation. This just shows how the townspeople were scared, and were ready to believe almost anything if it meant that they found what they were looking for. In these ways, the situation with communists during the McCarthy Era and the situation with witchcraft in Salem unfolded similar ways, and both come to show that people can believe almost anything when they are scared, even if it would seem pretty absurd to a normal person.
written by: Sam Melvin, English CP III
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