During 15 months in 1692 and 1693, twenty different men, women, and children were executed at the hands of little girls. Growing up in a religiously fearful and politically charged rural town in Puritan Massachusetts, these young girls discovered the power of their words, discovered the power of accusation. Exploration of this power lies at the center of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. He delves into the world of how it affects different people: the accusers, the innocent or those being accused, and authority. Miller wrote The Crucible in 19** when the United States was in gripped by fear of communism. Miller observed how some authorities (notably Senator Joseph McCarthy) exploited this fear for his own political gain and ruining many innocent
