Miller’s primary purpose for writing The Crucible is to point out how corrupt society can become during a time of unrest. Comparing the Salem Witch Trials to the McCarthy trials introduces the audience to the possibility that in a hundred years or so, the following generations could look back upon the McCarthy Trials and think that people were just as crazy as they were during the Salem Witch Trials. When Miller chooses Abigail as the antagonist for this play, he is making her the symbol for McCarthy and his followers. By representing McCarthyists with an uneducated, and seemingly insane young girl, he implies that they are being crazy and rash by implicating so many people for an outrageous crime without any concrete evidence. Consequently, the audience questions whether or not they are making the correct decision by following a cause that has no real proof behind it. It brings about the thought that maybe the leader that they have so much faith in is either crazy, or possibly just trying to help themselves. Furthermore, by portraying himself as Proctor, Miller is able to depict the struggle of his implication as a communist to the audience. This comparison allows the audience to recognize how painful and frustrating it must be to be attacked by society without a real reason. This encourages people to consider thinking for themselves so that an innocent is not prosecuted because of their own ignorance. These two drastic comparisons expose the necessity for people to recognize the unfit leaders and ideals of their cause. In an effort to portray the thought process of an innocent defendant, many questions are brought to the table about what the correct thing to do is when faced with a lethal dilemma. The question of what Proctor should do when faced with …show more content…
Throughout the story, there is a plethora of opportunities for the story to end with justice and peace. However, every opportunity for redemption is missed. One of the most painful scenes to read was the one in which Proctor tells Danforth that “In her life, sir, she have never lied” (p.103) in reference to his wife. Elizabeth then promptly enters the room and lies to the judge about Proctor’s adultery. The repetitive faults of the characters has a way of driving the audience mad in an attempt to understand why so many people are incapable of recognising and delivering the truth. Millers point in doing this is to show the audience that they themselves have been not been recognizing the truth that is so plainly in front of them. Also, when Abigail unintentionally kills the man that she started the Witch Trials to gain, Miller asserts that all of the lying and pointing fingers will not achieve anything. It will only end in