The Crucible was published in1953 and was written Arthur Miller. There were three major themes in the book. They were personal liberty, the need for integrity, and the human bond. The story takes place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The Crucible is based on different people of that time being accused of withcraft. They were put on trial in court, and most of them were hung. In this paper I will dicuss the three major themes that I mentioned earlier and other topics such as the witchhunts, what crucible actually means, McCarthyism, theocracy, hypocrisy, guilt by assosciation, conformirt, power struggles, and Puritanism.
             The actual definition of crucible is a container for melting something: a heat-resistant container in which ores or metals are melted, the bottom of a furnace: the hollow part at the bottom of a furnace where molten metal collects, and an ordeal: a severe trial or ordeal, testing circumstances: a place or set of circumstances where people or things are subjected to forces that test them and often make them change. The way that crucible relates to the story itself is that all of the people who were put on trials for being witches were put through a hard test. The test was to determine ones innocence or guilt. During the 1600's and the 1700's, people accused of being witches were guilty until proven innocent. Nowadays in the courts, people are innocent until proven guilty.
             The definition of a witchhunt is a campaign against dissenters: an intensive systematic campaign directed against those who have done something wrong or who hold different views, and a history persecution of witches: a persecution of people believed to be witches. During the time of the witch trials in Salem, the courts ordered other people of the courts to go and capture the accused and bring them into custody. These practices became known as witchhunts.
             The first major theme in "The Crucible" is personal lib...