Witches Children

For the month's reading assignment I read the historical novel called Witches Children: A Story of Salem by Patricia Clapp. Although at times it was somewhat repetitive and the characters under-developed, it was historically accurate and deepened my understanding of the witch trials to a greater extent. When we were assigned the reading based on this topic, it mentioned the victims (usually young girls) who were thrown in convulsions and visions of witches. The book raised these "victims" to a much more personal level. Because the of strict, uniform lifestyle of the Puritans, children were not allowed as much pleasure and leisure as they craved, thus creating a longing for adventure and the breaking away from their normal, redundant schedules. When the female youths of Salem were exposed to the magics of witchcraft, it gave them a reason to act out. In the Purtian society, there was an intense fear of the devil, and many people immeditatley believed the girls "fits" to be controlled by Satan's "employees," or witches. The book implied that what the girls only did such abnormal acts were out of boredom, it brought excitement and meaning to their lives, rather than the actual practice of witchcraft.

After reading this book, I became aware of how people truly were dedicated to religion; they wouldn't have killed so many of their people for something so unjustified if they didn't truly believe in God and the devil. Although this in itself is interesting, at times I found myself bored of reading about the same description of "fits" over and over again. It was predictable in that you could determine who the girls would "vision" as witches: everyone would didn't believe in the validity of their visions. Many questions remained unanswered as well. There were two characters who Clapp suggested from time to time as legitimate witches, but it was never confirmed. Overall I would say it was worth the read, because of the fact that the events described were probably very similar to those that actually happened. The Salem witch trials were fascinating because of continued faith in the existence

of witchcraft and how it continued even after so many were executed. There was no real way for a person accused of witchcraft to prove that they were innocent, because there was no real way to dissprove it either. After reading this book, I realized this and much more about