Each piece of literature, to varied degrees, mirrors it's historical, or social and political contexts that characterised its era. The Crucible dramatises and largely fictionalises the 1692 Salem witch trials. Miller published the play in 1953, during the Second Red Scare, or increased concern of communist infiltration in America. Consequently, the play is not only based on historically accurate events but further serves as an allegory for McCarthyism's catastrophic repercussions.