He wasn’t a strong child, I recall. And he had separation anxiety in the early days, often clinging to the nearest adult in sullen silence. Perhaps it stemmed from his abandonment as an infant. He’d cling to the skirttails of any who would let him, and one in particular seemed to seek him out when she traveled with us. Her name was Magdalene, though most of the children called her by the unfortunate nickname of Maggie. She was a kind and gentle woman, the sort who always had a smile and a gentle hug for anyone who she met along the way. There was little doubt in the world that Maggie was a witch, for she had talents that had long left the Irish, though we didn’t call ourselves that at the time. No, the words that we used were buried with time, hidden to avoid persecution and to protect the secrets that we used to live as daily life. Maggie would arrive with little pomp or circumstance, just walk up as if she’d been there the entire time and Tynan would become her shadow, never seen far from her, a black-haired child in the care of a grey-eyed witch. Whenever she left, I wondered if she’d taken him with her. But invariably, he’d be found clinging to someone else, and life would go on. I think I was ten when he finally stopped clinging to people, so he was nine before he finally put his feet on the road to social independence. I was patient with him, and soon enough, I learned what a wit lived within that tousled black-haired head. He’d had the advantage of listening to the adults, of learning secrets and things that I could only speculate upon, and in the end I think he proved the wiser for it. After that, we were inseparable, brothers in the wild, though in a battle of physical, he had little chance of holding against me. ... ... middle of paper ... ... her, though it was I that she chose in the end. She asked that he tie the handfasting knot, and though I know it broke his heart to do so, he did. I have no clear recollection of returning from the battle in the southern areas… no understanding of what had happened on the battlefield and how we’d survived. But survive we had, and her joy when he brought me to her was so painful for him that I think it was why he left us so suddenly. It wouldn’t be until many years later, that I would catch a glimpse of him again, and only a glimpse, as he fled from me like a wraith might flee the brilliance of the light. But even then, I had no cause to suspect what had truly returned me from that battlefield was not luck, but something darker. I still do not know the extent of it, and given the scattered few interactions that I have had with him since, I may never truly learn.
when describing his father. At the beginning of the story he spoke as a child
Rebecca Nurse was the embodiment of a kind, pious, and gentle citizen during the 17th century in Salem, Massachusetts. Having spent her entire life a devout Purist, Rebecca was hardly a typical candidate to be accused of such a heinous act such as witchcraft in 1692. And yet, she was violently taken from this world before her time had come, accused of afflicting girls through the medium of witchcraft, causing pain, suffering, and fits to such innocent younglings. How could someone who seemed so innocent be sentenced to the worst, cruelest punishment of all, death? A consensus on her innocence has been undisputed by historians and scholars since her travesty of a hanging.
Reis, Elizabeth. Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England.( New York: Cornell University Press, 1999), 107-108.
Justin, a boy who was raised in a dog cage until the age of five, suffered similar neglect as those mentioned earlier. Justin was kept in a dog cage and rarely interacted with his caregiver, who lacked the attachment bond needed for later development; his only attachment came from dogs (). In regards to the four factors that help strengthen the attachment between a child and caregiver, contemporary factors played a role in this situation. Contemporary factors are influenced by the abilities of an adult needed to provide a strong and stable attachment (). Justin was left in the care of his grandmother, but when his grandmother passed away, he was left in the care of Arthur, the grandmother’s boyfriend Arthur. Arthur was an elderly man who never had children and was limited on how to raise a child. Other contemporary factors such as the confidence and self-control needing to raise a child carry over into the child’s attachment development (). Within Connor’s case, he suffered neglect from birth to 18 months (). Connor had been neglected throughout all stages of development, which in result limited his ability to form a secure attachment and be able to rely on others for support and comfort. Connor was left alone throughout the day, creating an inconsistent and unstable perspective on how
When Maggie finally smiles ‘a real smile’ at the end of the story as she and her mother watch Dee’s car disappear in a cloud of dust, it is because she knows her ‘mother holy recognition of the scarred daughter’s sacred status as quilter is the best gift if a hard-pressed womankind to the fragmented goddess of the present.’ (Piedmont-Marton)
He beat me until I swung back and forth by my wrists, half-crazy with pain, unable to find my footi...
...ld become prime suspects of witchcraft.? (Helen Ellerbe, The Dark Side of Christian History)(2). In one complete sentence Helen was able to sum up women?s early medical knowledge and their ability to care for one another. What the Church did to women, witches or not, sickens me as it should sicken every conscious living soul. They used their power and also their fear of losing that power to execute millions of innocent women. Not only did they execute them but they tortured them in unthinkable ways. The Church and men alike should be forever sorry for their part in the witch hunting craze.
On February 29, 1692, Tituba, Sarah Osborne, and Sarah Good were accused of The Devil’s Magic by the group of girls (Linder). Women were thought to have been more likely to be a witch, because women were considered lustful towards the Devil by nature (Blumberg). Tituba confes...
In 1970, developmental psychologist Mary Ainsworth designed a study in the hopes of classifying varying types of attachments seen in children (Ainsworth & Bell, 1970). The study consisted of a parent and 12-18 month old child entering a strange but appealing room filled with toys. On multiple occasions, the mother would leave and a stranger would enter and try to console the child, who was upset with the departure of the mother. The mother would then return, and the behavior of the child would be recorded. Researchers labeled the behavior patterns of children in the study as “strange situation classifications”, and focused on four behaviors – separation anxiety...
In 1688, a wayward daughter of John Goodwin of Boston, about thirteen years of age, accused a servant girl of stealing some of the family linen. The servant's mother, a "wild Irish woman" and a Roman Catholic, impassioned disapproval the accuser as a false witness. The young girl, in revenge, pretended to be bewitched by the Irish woman. Some others of her family followed her example. They would alternately become deaf, dumb and blind, bark like dogs and purr like cats, but none of them lost their appetites or sleep. The Rev. Cotton Mather, a simple and conceited minister rushed to Goodwin's house to ease the witchery by prayer. Wonderful were the supposed effects of his desire. The devil was controlled by them for the time. Then four other ministers of Boston and one of Salem, as superstitious as himself, joined Mather they spent a whole day in the house of the "afflicted" in fasting and prayer, the result of which was the delivery of one of the family from the power of the witch. This was enough proof for the minds of the ministers that there must be a witch in the case, and these ignorant minister prosecuted the ignorant Irish woman as such. She was confused before the court, and spoke sometimes in her native Irish language, which nobody could understand, and which her accusers and judges explain into involuntary confession.
Anne Llewellyn Barstow finds that there was a disproportionate amount of women who were accused of Witchcraft in Western Europe between 1400 and 1650. Barstow moves on to point out through the text that these Women were victims of Misogyny due to the definition of Witchcraft being so broad and actually fitting the descriptions of the lives of many women. The patriarchal society of Europe at the time also bound women to lives of a lesser class if they were not living under the protection of men. Women were also seen as sex objects, and were seen as a threat to men who viewed women as untrustworthy and whorish. The findings of her research and views led Barstow to find that women were more likely to be accused and put to death for Witchcraft than men, as they were seen as minors before the courts and could not hold high positions but, they could be accused before the court for the heinous act of Witchery. Women were blamed for every malfunction of their reproductive systems, including stillbirth and were also blamed for preventing conception. Barstow believes that the first ever accounts of Witchcraft prosecution rose in the fifteenth century Europe as a means to control women’s sexual and reproductive lives. Barstow states, that in the English county of Essex, an amazing 92 percent of those accused of Witchcraft were women. The author proves that authors of the day do not concentrate on Women as the victims. In fact Women’s issues were merely brushed o...
His demonstrated the childhood of a kid who replicates similar characteristics as myself. We were both energetic creative adolescents; our minds would soar to heights beyond the average ten-year-old. With that being said, our childhoods did in fact contrast through what we each experienced. While I had an adamant parental involvement during my life, Timmy had little to none. I was giving the opportunity to stay home alone, Timmy was forced with an evil babysitter. Nonetheless, what I did find interesting was that having our childhood experiences be orchestrated differently, profoundly embellished our analogous personalities. It was Timmy's neglection from his parents that made him this vigorous imaginative kid. It was the affection from my parents that triggered this spirited visionary of a child I
When Joshua was approximately 8 months old I began to leave him at occasional babysitter. He would cry as I left and for a short while after, but upon my return he would greet me at the door with excitement. This is an example of Bowlby’s secure attachment. In Bowlby’s theory with the Strange Situation a child would show a secure attachment to the parent by crying when the parent left the room then crawling to her to feel safe once again. I wanted Joshua to be comfortable in new situations, yet at the same time I wanted him to begin to trust that I would return. According to Bowlb...
Then I saw him. In the middle of the church half swamped by the blood, he lay. I struggled to my feet and wadded with great difficulty through the coagulating blood. It was definitely him and he had a faint pulse. I dragged him by his arm outside and yelled. The gargoyles that adorned the front of the church were peering down at me. At that moment I saw movement out of the corner of my eye again, but I was startled by the claxon sound warning of a bombing raid.
Throughout the novel, the boy demonstrates his attachment to the man. Emotional bonds between children and their caregiver start at a young age. According to Bowlby theory of attachment, the characteristic safe haven occurs when a child clings to his or her caregiver when feeling afraid or insecure ("Attachment Styles"). The man and the boy journey south towards the coast, and along the way the man stops at his childhood home. Despite not wanting to go in the house, the boy does so anyway because he does not want to be without his father’s presence. McCarthy displays this early stage of attachment because “The boy gripped his hand” (26). Twice when they walk through the house the boy squeezes his father’s hand. Anytime the boy is frightened, his father is there to help him feel at ease, thereby exhibiting the start of the boy’s safe haven attachment.