1954

Are teenage girls witches?

Why does society persecute people who are different?

Although set in 1692 New England, this novel was Arthur Miller's attempt to show what happens when society is frightened by non-conformity. A small town (Salem, MA) finds several innocent victims guilty of witchcraft. The 1950s, an era of conformity, began with the Army-McCarthy hearings, intended to expose Communists. The "Red Scare" is one of the darker chapters of American history shown in this novel.