This book is an intriguing account of witch trials, American colonial political impotence, and ecclesiastical ignorance as well as general crowd hysteria. This is also a coming-of-age story about Sarah Carrier who is 10 years old at the time of the Salem, Massachusetts witch hunts and trials. Relying to some extent on family oral history since one of her ancestors was executed at the trials as well as her own research into the period, the author creates an intriguing story that explores the nature of fear, love, kindness, and forgiveness. Neither the author nor publisher gives any reckoning of how much of this story is historical fiction and how much is actual fact. By default, the book must be classed as historical fiction and for young adults but its uniqueness and narrative ingenuity could be greatly enhanced for the reader if these proportionalities were made explicit. Instead, the reader is given a smoothly contoured story with a richly textured historical setting that from a strictly structural point of view is no different from the novels available in grocery stores today that sweep the reader away into a …show more content…
Her scenes and characters seem very real and the sense of foreboding that must have surrounded this dark period in American history is communicated quite effectively. A smallpox epidemic, marauding Indians and delirious witch hunts combine to make life in the Massachusetts colony anything but peaceful. Those who survive in this hostile environment are physically and morally strong as well as intelligent and adaptable. Although these threats to survival are locked in a specific time within the story, they are in one form or another forces that have shaped American life for centuries—religious fanaticism, disease, and fear of
The article “An Attack on the Salem Witch Trials”, written by Thomas Brattle who is a Harvard graduate and a Boston merchant, states a view against the Salem Witch Trials and what they are doing (Dudley 29). On the other side Cotton Mather, a leading minister in Boston, wrote “A Defense of the Salem Witch Trials” which is favored on continuing the trials (Dudley 26). The Salem Witch Trials are a very absurd way to get rid of the so called witches, and should be put to a stop. The article “An Attack on the Salem Witch Trials” stated, “The justices order the apprehended to look upon the said children, which accordingly they do; and at the time of that look, … the afflicted are cast into a fit.”
The establishment of the colonies was a universe of anxiety and lust for an individual. An atrocious event that took place in Salem, Massachusetts. A town where colonist feared starvation, exposure to disease, and Native Americans. This was only the beginning for Salem and their uprising nightmare. A nightmare that I would desire to experience and travel back in time to 1692-1693.
In Salem, Massachusetts, Puritans were strong believers in the Bible. The Bible states, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” The Puritans beliefs led to them accusing 20 innocent people of being a witch, this resulted in their deaths in 1692. Even though the Puritans couldn’t see it at the time, their accusations were really based off jealousy, lies, and Salem being divided into two parts. One cause of the Salem witch trial hysteria was jealousy.
It was not long before Betty Parris, daughter of Reverend Samuel Parris and Abigail Williams, Reverend Parris’ niece, started screaming and writhing only to draw attention to the people of the town. It all started on one exceptionally cold winter night. Abigail, Betty, and a few other girls gathered around a fire in a dimly lit kitchen. The candles flickered and cast shadows on the pale walls. Tituba, Parris’s slave, tends a cauldron over the large, bright fire as she speaks.
REVIEW OF LITRATURE A.) SUMMARY SOURCE A Although the whole book had information on the Salem witch trials. The introduction, chapter 1 and 2 and the conclusion had information regarding the research needed • Introduction: states what the Salem witch trials where and who they accused.
“This is a sharp time, now, a precise time - we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world.” The Crucible is set in the extremely religious and strict Puritan settlement known as Salem. In this settlement, many were said to be witches, and those who were had to deal with the repercussions. Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible to parallel the hysteria and governmental actions of the Salem Witch trials with the Red Scare that was occurring in America at the time.
In the book, The Witches: Salem 1692, the author Stacy Schiff attempts to condense a large volume of research into a cohesive narrative that tries to avoid to much speculation. There is some contention that the book does speculate into the motives of primary accusers that some reviewers have intimated are bordering on fiction. However, the author defends her arguments logically, and her inferences do seem to bridge the gaps effectively. One of the items that causes some confusion, to both the historically curious, and to the researcher is that the author has created a list of dramatis personae in which the historical figures are labeled as a cast of characters which might make the book seem fictional.
Nathaniel Nguyen The Crucible Arthur Miller English 2 Honors Period 2 Witch Hunting During the years 1692 to 1693, The Salem Witch Trials were a time of great fear and hysteria, as even neighbors would accuse one another of witchcraft just to lower the suspicion that they themselves were witches. Although many people nowadays are very well aware of what happened during this frightful time, most still don’t know how the Salem Witch Trials actually began. The Crucible by Arthur Miller captures the horrific experience of the Salem Witch Trials from their very beginning, to their ending when people began realizing that the entire situation had been a lie from the very start.
The Salem Witch Trials In the state of Massachusetts, there was a small village called Salem Village. There was a dark event in history caused by accusations. Something that will forever be remembered in history due to the beliefs of the supernatural and devil practices. Where 150 and more people were not only accused of witchcraft but some were even killed because of it.
This style immersed the reader into the story, allowing them to walk the filthy Pennsylvania streets right along with Matlock, and smell the freedom on the wind as if they were standing beside General Travis. I also thoroughly enjoyed the historical accuracy and key themes that the author skillfully wove into the plot. To illustrate, Jeannette tied in the concepts of the British East India Company and the West Indies slave trade. She also touched on the idea of indentured serevants coming accords the ocean, fleeing persecution in England, working the lowest jobs in America. An important theme with which the author correlated into the story was the idea of social darwinsim.
The novel challenges readers to confront some of the most difficult and complex issues within America
The Salem witch trial hysteria of 1692 may have been instigated by religious, social, geographic and even biological factors. During these trials, 134 people were condemned as witches and 19 were hanged. These statistics also include 5 more deaths that occurred prior to their execution date. It is interesting to look into the causes of this stain on American History, when as shown in document B, eight citizens were hanged in only one day.
Human Nature has always been about survival and self-preservation. We see this repeated over and over in history, literature, and even in our own lives. “The Crucible”, written by Arthur Miller, is a web spun on deceit, lies, fear, and the strong will to preserve one’s self. Set in the late 1600’s, a witch hunt grips the small town of Salem throwing its residents into a state of constant hysteria. Many characters if not all, have been the spider and the fly, some more obvious to one side than others.
The novel in its analysis and context addresses a lot of themes that the author uses to express her idea to the readers. The major themes used by the author directly reveal the major evils that took place in America during that
some point, and they end up giving in to the temptations. During the journey when Brown gets into the forest and even into the ceremony his first name Young is left behind showing that he had lost his innocence. But at the end of the story, Brown is implied as being the only righteous good man as he witnesses that all other people in the church and further doubted his wife being evil and he loses trust on the people of Salem (Hawthorne 237). The name Salem is symbolic when reference is made to the American history that was famous for the witch trials. Therefore Salem shows the hypocrisy of the towns prominent citizens.