1. In The Crucible, two characters who serve as contrasts to each other are Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail. Elizabeth Proctor is known as an honest woman, while Abigail is consistently seen as a dishonest person whose lies result in the widespread paranoia of the Salem witch trials. For example, after dancing in the forest with other girls, he forbids them to tell the townspeople about it and accuses other people of witchcraft, which leads to their deaths. Another example is the fact that she had an affair with John Proctor, Elizabeth's husband, and tries to hide it because she doesn't want her reputation to be ruined. The reason he accuses others of witchcraft is because he wants to get rid of Elizabeth so that she can be John's "perfect wife" and because he doesn't want to get in trouble. Abigail is the perfect foil for anyone who is even slightly honest. Elizabeth, on the other hand, "never lied." John Proctor told Danforth, "There are those who cannot sing and those who cannot cry: my wife cannot lie." He fires Abigail as his servant when he learns of an affair between Abigail and her husband. The only time she lies is when she denies that her husband is having an affair with Danforth to save his reputation. Abigail represents the human in every Puritan, while Elizabeth is the Puritan model. Although Elizabeth has her flaws, her honesty brings out the liar in Abigail, and Abigail's deceitful nature makes Elizabeth seem like a saint.2. Arthur Miller, the author of The Crucible, lived during the Red Scare, which was anti-communist as the Salem witch trials were anti-witches. The whole book is symbolic of two events that happened in history. The Red Scare and McCarthyism both serve as symbols of the Salem witch trials, which makes it an allegory. Although the work is based on the witch trials that occurred in seventeenth-century New England, the author intended to address his concern with the Red Scare in an indirect way. For example, much like the witch trials that accused people of witchcraft, Americans during the Red Scare accused others of being pro-Communist. As a result, the same widespread paranoia occurred. However, not everything is so simple. There were no real witches in Salem, but there were pro-communists during the Red Scare. However, they both falsely accused many innocent people.