Going through the play, chaos gradually breaks out as people are being accused of being witches and consorting with the devil. Out of control, citizens are being hung in Salem for witchcraft. People begin confessing to witchcraft even when they are not guilty of it to try to fix the situation in the community, but this ends up not working out quite right. Citizens of the town are being executed for crimes they did not commit.
This aspect of the play reminded me of what happened in Billy Budd. In Billy Budd, Billy starts out being accused of something that he did not do. Claggart was accusing him of leading conspiracy among the other foretopman of the ship. This was a crime that Billy was not guilty of, yet Claggart kept pursuing Billy. One day, Billy was called into a meeting with Claggart and Captain Vere, where Claggart was intensely interrogating Billy. Suddenly, Billy takes out his knife and stabs Claggart. This incident connects to "The Crucible" because Billy began by being accused of a crime that he was innocent of, but still wound up being executed for something that he did because of his false acusation.
