Arthur Miller's The Crucible contrasts the McCarthy era with similarities between the two trials, the notion of mob mentality, and the characters and plot events themselves. Arthur Miller captured the essence of the McCarthy era in his play. The parallels between the two eras are clearly highlighted, in addition to the unruly hysteria of the mob mentality. Judgments were distorted and vengeance began to be uprooted when careers and reputations were put on the line in both The Crucible and Second Red Scare. The similarities between the Salem witch trials and the McCarthy era are evident throughout the play, such as the common theme of revenge. . “Naturally, the best proof of the sincerity of your confession was the fact that you named someone else whom you had seen in the Devil's company – an invitation to private vengeance” (Why I Wrote). In both trials, defendants were required to name names involved in either communism or witchcraft. This highlighted private vengeance. Some saw the trials as an opportunity to ease grudges from previous land disputes. This is seen through the character of Thomas Putnam. Putnam used the trials to his advantage only to profit from them. “This man kills his neighbors for their land” (The Crucible 96). The theme of revenge manifests itself in the character of Thomas Putnam whose intentions are to exploit the system for his personal gain. Many people during the Second Red Scare also used this tactic to amend their previous grudges and benefit only themselves. Arthur Miller was concerned about the number of similarities between the two trials. "So many of the practices of the Salem trials were similar to those employed by congressional committees that I could easily be accused of distorting middle of paper......the effectiveness of the piece in allowing the audience to make connections personal with the characters and reinforce the thematic threads. “The Crucible was an act of desperation” (Why I Wrote). Arthur Miller successfully paralleled the Salem Witch Trials with the era of McCarthyism by utilizing the similarities of the two events, capturing the essence of hysteria and mob mentality, and altering the story in order to achieve the effect he wanted. The Crucible had a far-reaching effect that Arthur Miller could never have imagined. He understood that history repeating itself is inevitable, but he nevertheless remained hopeful that his play would inspire humanity to learn from past mistakes rather than repeat them. WORKS CITED Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print. Miller, Arthur. “Why I Wrote The Crucible.” The New Yorker 1996: n. page. Print.