McCarthyism and The Crucible In the small Puritan town of Salem, a group of girls, including Abigail Williams and Tituba, go to the forest and dance. They are caught by the church minister, Reverend Parris. Parris’ daughter falls inert and the town fills with rumors of witchcraft. Abby tells the other girls that they must not admit to anything they did in the forest. After Abigail and Tituba are interrogated, Tituba finally confesses to communing with the devil and accuses many other townsfolk of conspiring with the devil. Abigail and the other girls join in with Tituba, claiming they have seen various townspeople with the devil. John Proctor, a townsperson, and his wife Elizabeth argue over the ongoing trials and the escalating number of accused witches. John knows that Abigail and the girls are faking the entire witchcraft case, and Elizabeth wants him to denounce Abby as fraud. She feels that John is just covering for Abigail due to the affair between them in the past. Some townsfolk come to the Proctor household and state that their wives have been arrested for being accused of witchcraft. Court officials soon come to the house and arrest…show more content… For example, Joseph McCarthy made claims that many communists had come into the government, and in comparison, a group of girls made fake claims about the existence of witches in Salem. In both cases, lives were ruined and it affected many other people than just the accused. In the communism cases of the 1950s, the accused were assumed guilty and put on trial. They were also expected to give the names of other communists, and failure to do so would result in punishment. In the Salem witch cases, the accused were also assumed guilty and put on trial. They were expected to give the names of other witches, and if they didn’t their punishment was death. The two situations of McCarthyism and the Salem Witch Trials are very similar and follow the same