Who's McCarthy?

Let's take a trip down memory lane. Last year I took a wonderful class called Advanced Placement United States History. This class was one of a kind, we learned about all the blood and flowers of history. Yet, one particular time period stood out to me. The time from 1940 - 1991. In this time period, America was heavily distracted by a foe called Communism. It was like the slender man of the time. Yet, along comes literature's favorite dashing hero, Joseph McCarthy. At first everyone loved him because of his role in secreting out communist supporters, however, after a while he started to accuse the wrong people. Influential people.  People who were smarter than him. 

I can't help but relate this to The Crucible ( I did not read sparknotes people, although I probably should, I paid attention to Ms. Valentino). The Crucible is where we see a motif of naming names. Accusing people unjustly and willy nilly. Although I know The Crucible is allegory of McCarthyism and the Red Scare, I can't help but wonder who represents McCarthyism?

We have the tragic hero, Proctor, who has a good, if not scary profile in the town of Salem. Proctor is the kind of tragic hero who would give up anything to show that he is right and that everyone else is against the wrong area. Does he relate to Joseph McCarthy? They both try and convince people that there is a list of wrong doers and they must be silenced, yet Proctor's good (somewhat) and McCarthy is sort of unjustified. On the other hand, both do accuse influential people, which immediately leads to their separate downfalls.   

What about the antagonist Abigail Williams? She names a whole bunch of people who become convicted of witchcraft, similar to how McCarthy convicts innocence citizens of supporting communism. McCarthy and Abigail just have to mention names in order for someone to lose their life. They both create a big stir that eventually spreads across the entirety of America. 

So who is the play referring to as McCarthy?

Motifs confuse me, so bear with me if I get this wrong, but both Proctor and Abigail represent this motif of naming.They both seem to represent McCarthy very well-complimenting both sides of McCarthyism. Proctor names Abigail as a seductive girl and ruckus maker and Abigail in turn names a whole bunch of people as witches. McCarthy names people as being communist. Eventually Proctor gets called a liar (like McCarthy) and Abigail flees (like McCarthy). The motif of naming lets the reader dive deeper into the meaning behind the play. It was to represent a fear of mob mentality and condone outsider evaluation, but the motif reveals that the good and bad guy can create strife and conflict that leads to accusatory statements and bandwagon ideals.