Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The role of religion in early America
The witch of blackbird pond summary
The witch of blackbird pond summary
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The role of religion in early America
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Kit Tyler, the main character of Elizabeth George Spear's book, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, must leave her carefree life in tropical Barbados, and go and live in Connecticut. She learns that playing is what is to life, but hard work. She learns that if people do not know you, that they pre judge you. She also learns that if you don't live up to the Puritan life style, that they will look down at you. Kit must learn to cope, and learn from all these changes in her life.
First of all her grandfather dies, which leaves her as an orphan. She byes a ticket to Connecticut, where the last of her relatives live. When she arrives she is hit with a new way of life. In Barbados, slaves did the work, so Kit never worked before. She comes dressed in a Silk dress, which at that time was unacceptable in Connecticut. When she arrives at her relative's house, she is amazed how small in was compared to the house she lived in on Barbados.
Secondly, she goes to church. In Barbados her grandfather never stressed church as being important, so this was a new experience. When they started to sit down, the family separated into two groups, the men would go to the left, while the women sat to the right of the aisles. Then the Priest would talk about that Sunday's lesson. Then they went home, and had Sunday's dinner. Then her uncle would read out of the Bible. Then they would go to bed.
Thirdly, the people never like people that never followed the rules. One day when Kit was working in the field, see was told a story of an old Quaker woman that lived by Blackbird Pond. A Quaker was people that didn't come to Sunday services like the Puritans stated, and wouldn't follow the Puritans' way of life. They said that this old Quaker was a witch, and had cast spells on the city. Kit didn't believe the stories, and one time after she finished her work, went to visit the old woman. When see arrived, she saw a poor old women in a tiny little house, and then Kit started to help her. When the children of the town got sick, the town people went to get to old women, and make her stand trial for supposedly casting a spell.
Miller Edwards,Hawthorne and korning each show how religion was a sin in puritan cultures and affected many people’s lives that punishment will come when you have disgraced your religion that good is against the devil there is a strict form of puritan. Puritans were dedicated to work to save themselves from the sins in the world. Guilt was a great force in the puritans belief. The people in the story are Puritans a religion often depicted because of its rules and severe punishments to those who sin. The puritans left england to avoid religious persecution they established a society in America founded upon religion intolerance, Up surprising result the church dominates the Puritan culture.
Set in the Colonial American village of Salem in Massachusetts around the year of 1692, A Delusion of Satan opens by describing, in depth, the puritan lifestyle. Ranging from the social aspects, to the religious aspects, to the political aspects of puritan living, Frances Hill leaves no stone unturned in giving the most accurate and relatable descriptions of the topics at hand before diving into the trials themselves. I particularly enjoy the depth of description that Hill provides when giving you the background information such as the puritan lifestyle; without setting a strong foundation, certain things may not make sense further into the book.
Although in Salem, Ma, the Bible is the one book that is to read as others are banned. When a couple teenage girls accuse others of witchcraft in order to save themselves, Reverend Hale comes to help determine those that are guilty. Through this process Giles reveals that he has woken up to find his wife, Martha "in a corner, readin ' of a book" (Miller 40). Readers are able to tell that it was wrong on his part to mention such a thing, due to the fact that if you were able to read anything besides a Bible then you were said to be taking part of witchcraft. Since the town revolved around the Bible and it 's teachings anyone who did not attend church was seen as an outsider and a witch. Theology is what rules in this village, if someone is not content with the laws and teaching then they are known as one with the devil. "There be no love for Satan"(67), this is all that is taught in the town. To fear the devil and hell is all that is engraved in their heads.
As the story of Tituba unfolds, it reveals a strong and kind hearted young woman, very different from the Tituba we meet in The Crucible. I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem unveils for the reader, Tituba's life, loves, and losses. Her long and arduous journey through life is inspired by her many female counterparts, yet also hindered by her insatiable weakness for men, who also press upon her the realities of life.
The punishment of witches is an example of irony in the book. After the rumors about witches started, many people were suspected as witches even though they were innocent. However, there was no good way to prove their innocence; the choices that people had are to tell the truth that they are not witches and never admit and
... life and goes back to these girls who turned on her in an instant. Others even confess to witchcraft because, once accused, it is the only way to get out of being hanged. The confessions and the hangings actually promote the trials because they assure townsfolk that God?s work is being done. Fear for their own lives and for the lives of their loved ones drives the townspeople to say and do anything.
They had no trouble believing that, because Parris had called Reverend Hale, (known for his studies in demonic arts), there must truly be witchcraft within the town. The play progresses and certain characters begin to develop; here is a community full of underlying personal grudges. Religion pervades every aspect of life. ' A man may think that God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now.
As flawed people, achieving perfection is an impossible task. Yet, despite this inevitability, individuals strive for perfection only to reveal and witness imperfections. The Puritan lifestyle attempted to achieve this unattainable mission by setting strict morals upon the people of Salem, Massachusetts, however they struggled to do so. Salem faced a major change as a result of the Puritan ambition. Because of their thought on the ideal community as a straitlaced society, those who portrayed an imperfect model were to be isolated. Suspicion flooded the holy Puritan town, and led to accusations of innocent people. After a close analysis, it may be relevant to look at the Puritan belief system as a possible catalyst for the events that occurred during the Salem witch trials.
The novel begins with the protagonist, April Wheeler, portraying Gabrielle in an amateur-theatre production of the play, The Petrified Forest. The play ends up being a total disaster and leaves April devastated, leaving her disconnected from Frank, her husband, and her neighbors, Milly and Shep Campbell afterwards. The play, The Petrified Forest, is a disastrous love story of a man who decides to have himself die to keep the women he loves out of a life of misery. In the end of The Petrified Forest, Gabrielle is able to escape from her horrible lifestyle and fulfill her dreams; April was never able to do that.
In the strict Puritan villages of Massachusetts Bay Colony in the late 1600s, people were uncomfortable about foreigners and strange manners. Puritans were bothered about the “evil eye”, where a sudden illness or death of an animal was commonly misinterpreted as the “devil’s work”. It was a place where anybody different was not trusted and Tituba was perhaps the most different among them. Maryse Condé’s novel I, Tituba Black Witch of Salem, is the story of a black woman who was born into a troubled life plagued with many challenges. Born by a mother who was a victim of rape, Tituba’s life is set for one that is filled with tragic and unlucky events. She seemed doomed for misfortune and grief due her trials and tribulations of the fact that she was an African American woman. Tituba, as well other female characters in this book are continually pushed around because of their gender. Anytime a woman tried to defend her human rights she was punished for it in the most extreme way possible. Maryse Condé takes on race, gender, religion, the idea of America as a land of wealth, the idea of the victim’s guilt, revenge, sexuality, and many other powerful motifs, and weaves them together in Tituba.
After Abigail Williams and the girls are discovered dancing in the forest by Reverend Parris, there are rumours of witchcraft among them, when Betty Parris and Ruth Putnam are found "witched". Once the girls discover this, they become more and more frightened of being accused of witchcraft. Abigail is the first to "admit" to seeing the devil, and all the other girls join in, so the blame will not be placed on them. "I saw Sarah Good with the Devil. I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil. I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil."
“The Wonders of the Invisible World”, written by Cotton Mather, is an account of the Salem Witch Trials. He retells information that has been passed down to him without actually being present at the trial and simultaneously explains his theory to why witches were suddenly emerging in Salem, Massachusetts. There were quite a few holes in the Salem Witch Trials, especially regarding whether or not these events occurred the way they are said to. Mather’s book shows us how intense the Puritan ideals were, attaching anything out of the ordinary to a higher power and in doing this shows the flaws of the religion which caused to Salem Witch Trials.
By, Elizabeth George Speare. The book took place in the year of 1687. Some of the book takes place on a boat called the “Dolphin,” and then the rest of the book in Wethersfield, in the state of Connecticut. The main characters in the book are Katherine Tyler (her nickname was Kit), Nat Eaton, Uncle Matthew, Aunt Rachel, Hannah Tupper, Kit’s cousins Mercy, and Judith, Prudence, Hannah Tupper, John Holbrook, Goodwife Cruff and Goodman Cruff. One of the problems in the beginning of the book is when she goes to her cousin’s house and was adapting to their way of life; for instance when she got there, they all did not have good clothes and she had really fancy clothes that they would have never worn in their life because they were too expensive. Another problem that she encountered was that she met a lady named Hannah Tupper that lived near Blackbird Pond and she was a Quaker. That’s why she was forced to live there, because no one liked her and she was also accused of being a witch. Kit made friends with her when she bumped into her in the meadow. This jeopardized her life and that was a problem. She helped Prudence read and write and that was a little risky too.
...ely to bring only a puzzled smile to the next” (Miller 1). In the 1950’s the Witch hunt seemed unnatural and silly, but now-a-days, the Red Scare and hunting down communists seems silly and unnecessary. A parallel to the play is when Miller states in his article, “The more I read into the Salem panic, the more it touched off corresponding images of common experiences in the fifties” (Miller 4). It is also stated in the article that “naturally to turn away in fear of being identified with the condemned. As I learned from non-Jewish refugees, however, there was often a despairing pity mixed with ‘Well, they must have done something’” (Miller 4). This frightening time in American history when neighbors turned on neighbors was documented in the book. When Rebecca Nurse is charged and Elizabeth claims that is outrageous, Hale replies, “Women, it is possible” (Miller 64).
Mary Warren started out in a manner reminiscent to that of Peter Pettigrew from the famous “Harry Potter,” series; she was a timid follower of a popular group, and admired the bravery and kindness she lacked. After Mary and her so-called ‘friends’ are found dancing naked around a fire in their conservative town, they know they will likely be accused of a crime that could punish them with death; witchcraft. Mary’s friend Abigail, tells the girls to stick to their story that they were dancing in the woods and threatens to kill the girls if they reveal the truth; that Abigail was practicing witchcraft and drank blood in order to take the life of the wife of a man she had had an affair with; Elizabeth Proctor, the boss and friend of Mary Warren.