Arthur Miller based The Crucible on the 17th century witch hunts that took place in the community of Salem, a small Puritan colony near Boston, Massachusetts. At the time, Salem was a theocracy in which Christian morality was interpreted by citizens as supreme. Miller this play is an allegory of Senator Joe McCarthy and his infamous twentieth-century "Red Scare" hearings that accused many high-profile Americans of being dissident communists. In both situations people were accused of heinous crimes without much evidence. Miller begins the action at the beginning of the year 1692 when a group of colony girls fall victim to alleged hallucinations and convulsions after dancing in the forest with a black slave. called Tituba. Suspicion surrounds Tituba, and accusations and fears of witchcraft soon fill the devoutly religious colony. Abigail Williams, 17 years old and beautiful, appears to be the ringleader of the girls, and when Tituba and Abigail begin accusing various townspeople of conspiring with the devil, the other girls join in. Soon Salem is plagued by jealousies, bitter arguments, and deep-rooted hatreds rise to the surface. The local farmer, John Proctor, is a deeply honest man and suspects that Abigail is an impostor. However, Proctor has a guilty secret to protect: an affair with young Abigail when she was a maid in his home. This proves to be its tragic flaw. Jealous and vindictive, Abigail accuses Proctor's wife of having something to do with the devil, and as the hysteria grows, Proctor hesitates to expose Abigail for fear of her secret being exposed and losing his good name. Old grudges and religious zeal result in tragedy, as innocent people are hanged for witchcraft, others are jailed, and a c...... middle of paper ......or witnesses witchcraft before his good conscience prevails . Elizabeth asks John for forgiveness while standing on the cliff, which is ironic because all she did was tell a lie and her first. The film ends with John hanging for a crime that everyone watching knew he hadn't committed. When in the river, John screams "God is dead." Miller uses this statement to illustrate John's belief that the theocratic laws that governed Salem did not work or were "dead." All the characters in the film knew they weren't telling the truth. For the citizens of Salem, telling the truth is less important than the life of others. The accusations that define McCarthyism could not be closer to the barbaric accusations that define the Salem witch trials. This parallel is well illustrated by Miller and explains why his film deserves the great success it achieves.