Similarities between McCarthy Era and Play

The event similarities between Millers play; The Crucible and the historical 'McCarthy Era' are obvious. Along with the many other aspects of the play, key events from the McCarthy Era have been deliberately mirrored into a Salem setting. For instance, in the novel the witch-trails were a consequence of the girls not being willing to face the consequences from dancing in the wood. Instead, they blamed it on a superstition that the village feared greatly, witches. This is almost identical to the founding of the infamous McCarthy Era in the 1950s. The cold war had started between America and Russia and in 1949, America got news that Russia had successfully tested a RDS-1 nuclear weapon. Fear and hysteria spread through America that there was now a possibility of nuclear war. With the need of someone to blame, Joseph McCarthy, a sent in the United States declared that there was communist spies hiding in the government. This event, along with many others during the era are highlighted through Millers successful play.