"The Crucible" by Arthur Miller discusses the insanity of the largest witch-hunts called the Salem Witch Trails. The people of Salem followed a strict, Puritan faith, and it was considered evil to do anything like dancing. People in Salem believed strongly in witchcraft, and in 1692 an outbreak of 'witch hunting' was started by a group of girls, as depicted in Millers book. There were nineteen people that were hanged, both male and female, 150 people were imprisoned and on other man was pressed to death with stones for refusing to answer yes or no to the charges brought against him. There are many superficial reasons as to why the witch trails came about. The most popular of which is the suppressed childhood. Some of the other factors that contributed to the trail were Abigail Williams affair with John Proctor, the secret grudges that neighbors held against each other, and the physical and economic differences between the citizens of Salem Village. The main point of Arthur Miller's book is drive witchcraft and Marcathism out of America. Set in the 1600's the book is about how witches were depicted as evil, and how a group of girls messing about in woods, turns horribly wrong.
             From a historical viewpoint, it is known that young girls in colonial Massachusetts were given diminutive or no freedom to act like children. They were expected to walk straight; arms by their sides, eyes slightly downcast, and their mouths were to be shut unless otherwise asked to speak. It is not surprising that the girls would find this type of lifestyle very constricting. To rebel against it, they played pranks, such as dancing in the woods, listening to slaves' magic stories and pretending that other villagers were bewitching them. "The Crucible" starts after the girls in the village have been caught dancing in the woods. As one of them falls sick, a rumor starts that there is witchcraft going on in the woods, and the si...