John, on the other hand, wants to leave the matter in the past. He makes his opinion clear uttering, "Abby, you'll put it out of mind. I'll not be comin' for you more.""(Sime 838) Abigail realizes John's wife, Elizabeth, is the only person coming between her and John, making Goody Proctor a target for accusation. If Elizabeth is found guilty, she will be hanged, leaving John entirely to Abby. The girls are also quick to point their fingers at many women including Rebecca Nurse, a friendly, respected, elderly lady. When asked who Abby has seen standing with the Devil, she cries out, "I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!- (Sime 849) After Abigail starts naming the Devil's advocates, Betty catches on and names Goody Howe, Martha Bellows, Goody Siber, Alice Barrow, Goody Hawkins, Goody Bibber, and Goody Booth. Abby even turns in opposition to her own friend, Mary Warren, because she confesses to faking all of the hexes that "witches- supposedly put on her. Following, the group of female accusers is brought to see Deputy Hathorne in order to prove if Mary's confessions are true. Within moments of facing Hathorne, Abigail denies Mary and leads the girls into accusing her of witchcraft. Mary, horrified by the action, pleads for Abby to stop. In response Abigail declares, "No, I cannot, I cannot stop my mouth; it's God's work I do."" (Sime 875) In both the McCarthy hearings and The Crucible's trials, many innocents within society were persecuted. .
Additionally, selfish motivations led to the rise of McCarthy, Abigail, and her friends. Joe McCarthy was virtually unknown being the senator of Wisconsin and knew in order to be re-elected in 1952, it was necessary for him to make headlines (Friedman). Subsequently, once he was in the spotlight, he took advantage of his fame to raise campaign donations from anti-Communists; much of this money ending up in his personal bank account.