ed of. Since the Devils time for destruction was limited, they thought they found his center of attack when they discovered so many witches in Salem. Their society was always ready to accuse anyone of witchcraft and accepted anyone elses accusations. What a witch actually was and how to identify one was a problem never solved by the Puritans. One thing they did know, was a person became a witch when she entered into some sort of covenant with the Devil. When they realized that a witch could be invisible or enter a persons body without them knowing it, identification of a witch became harder. There was still allot of confusion and disagreement about how to detect a witch and just what a witch actually was. The accusations which occured in Salem in 1692, will always be remembered because,...groundless accusations are still granted credence, hysteria still claims its victims, and persecution still masquerades as virtue and prejudice as piety. (Bigsby xxv)Arthur Miller had a bigger plan when he wrote The Crucible. He not only wanted to talk about the hysteria that occured in Salem Massachusetts in 1692, but he also wanted to talk about the hysteria that was happening now in West Virginia in the 1950s. With the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 as a moral frame and point of departure, Mr. Miller has gone to examine the permanent conditions of the climate of hysteria. (Hayes 498)In West Virginia in 1950 an almost totally unknown senator became the center of attention when he casually accused the Democratic Administration of harboring and supporting Communists in the American government. That senator name was Joseph McCarthy. At the time these accusations were made, America was involved in a great struggle with Russia. (Hayes 498) Out of fear, America started to believe the ridiculous charges made by McCarthy. This can be compared to those in Salem, because it was a period when ...the rational mind was affected by fear (Cliffs Not...
