In this drama, a crucible would represent the constant building action leading to the climax of the pot. Similar to the contents of a crucible, the characters seem to be constantly enduring severe trials; in this case, the witching trials. The crucible would, in my opinion, symbolize the town itself and its residents the contents. The symbolism of this suggests a theme of the townspeople going through the witching trials and coming out with a "refined" lesson. The unnecessary accusations and trials will teach a hard lesson to the people who live within the town and influence their future.
The singular noun in this sentence would be the word "Sand" because it's talking about the "Hot sand". He walked across the hot "sand", hot is used to describe the word sand. Thus your answer.... B. sand. Hope this helps. :)
