Arthur Miller's The Crucible parallels the McCarthy Era with similarities between the two trials, the notion of mob mentality, as well as 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 shown beyond the rebellious hysteria of the mass mentality. Judgments were distorted and revenge began to take root as 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 work, such as the common theme of revenge. . “Of course, the best evidence of the sincerity of your confession was your naming of others whom you had seen in the company of the Devil – an invitation to private vengeance” (Why I Wrote). In both trials, the defendants had to list names involved in communism or witchcraft. This brought private revenge to light. Some saw the trials as an opportunity to settle past grievances from previous land disputes. This is demonstrated through the character of Thomas Putnam. Putnam used the evidence to his advantage only to profit from it. “This man is killing his neighbors for their land” (The Crucible 96). The theme of revenge manifests itself in the character Thomas Putnam whose intentions are to exploit the system for his own personal gain. Many people during the Second Red Scare also used this tactic to modify previous grievances and profit only for themselves. Arthur Miller was concerned about the amount of similarities between the two trials. “So many practices of the Salem trials were similar to those employed by congressional committees that I could easily be accused of distorting the effectiveness of the show by allowing the audience to make personal connections with the characters and strengthen thematic threads. “The Crucible was an act of desperation” (Why I wrote). Arthur Miller successfully compared the Salem witch trials to the McCarthy era by using the similarities of the two events, capturing the essence of the hysteria and mob mentality and altering the story to achieve the effect he desired. The Crucible had a far-reaching effect that Arthur Miller could never have imagined. He understood that history repeating itself is inevitable, but he held out hope that his work would inspire humanity to learn from the mistakes of the past rather than repeat them. WORKS CITED Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print.Miller, Arthur. "Because I wrote the Crucible." The New Yorker 1996: n. page Press.