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An Analysis Of Witch Trials In Richard Godbeer's 'Escaping Salem'

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Richard Godbeer presented an excellent picture on how puritan life was structured, how it functioned, and how they perceived the super natural in this novel. Reading "Escaping Salem," I was thrown several different scenarios displaying how witchcraft was addressed in early puritan society and how they reacted towards it. The supposedly bewitching of Katherine Branch showed the reader how the people of Stamford and the court system handled the act of witchcraft. After reading this novel, I can say that I do believe the accused in the Stamford witchcraft trial received a fair trial. In early puritan society, the communities were very close. They all knew each other well and had an idea of what their daily lives were about. Richard Godbeer had an excellent way of showing this in the novel. One example was by having Daniel Wescot ask his neighbors for assistance in helping watch over Kate, while she was showing symptoms of being bewitched. The Wescot's neighbors were quick to say yes, "to request assistance in time was customary and expected in a place like Stamford" (pg.25). This loyalty really helped the Wescot's in …show more content…

Telling fortunes, showing peoples faces in glasses, enchantments, and healing the sick are some of the things people who practiced witchcraft claimed to be able to do. New Englanders often turned to people who could do these things for favors and referred to them as "cunning folk" (pg.107). The New Englanders didn't see any harm in using their occult powers for there own good, when in fact these people were in contact with the devil. They did not see it that way but they were indeed risking being banished to hell. Most of the citizens in Stamford did not want any witches or supernatural things around them, for their fear of the devil. Richard Godbeer gave the reader specific scenarios about witchcraft, to show how apposed people were to it despite it being so

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