The Crucible is a fictional story about the real life issues that occured in Salem. The author wrote about the Salem witch trials as a means of interepreting the stress and issues in his world at the time. It was written during the 1950's when the "Red Hunt" was in full swing. Anti-Communism sentiment and fear of Communist spies abounded, much like the Salem fear of witches. One could theoretically save themselves from becoming "evil" or "Red" so to speak, by confessing who else committed crimes or was a witch/communist. So, a vicious cycle of accusing and accusing back started which really couldn't be stopped. They weren't factualized theories, because you can't prove someone's a witch, nor can you read their mind to determine their political ideas. The idea of fear and the fear of not having power is played around with by the author. He puts his characters in positions they are uncomfortable with, or even the reader feels uncomfortable. The author does a great job imprinting the feelings of the characters on the reader. The author never actually tells you who was a witch or who was doing what was wrong/accusing except for rare occasions, when the characters would finally discover a confession or heard someone in court. I think this really plays into the characters' total sense of helplessness and fear of the unknown, and since the reader only knows what they know, I think that feeling comes off really well. The characters all have a unique "wrong-doing" or vice about themselves that the author tries to exemplify. For instance Proctor is adultery, and the author uses very dramatic irony to show what Proctor has done and create a really tragic story. I felt genuinely sad and upset for the fate of these characters, and I think the author really captured that feeling of not having anything to lose, and not caring anymore.
Word Count: 319
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