Salem Possessed Literary Elements

Nonfiction

Salem in the late 1600s

Third-person narrative

Tone: impartial, objective, straightforward, questioning

Mood: contemplative, cerebral, scholarly

There are not traditional protagonists/antagonists, though the two warring families might think otherwise.

What led to the Salem Witch Trials? Was it internal divisions among the villagers, or something larger than that, such as the shift of an agrarian society to a capitalist, urban one?

As this is not a novel, there is no real climax; however, the Witch Trials are what everything in the book leads up to, so they function as a climax of sorts.

As this is not a novel, there is no real foreshadowing; however, the authors do reference things that would happen in the future when talking about a particular event.

N/A

As this is not a novel, allusions proper do not appear. However, there are numerous references to historical, religious, and literary figures and events:
1. "The God of John Calvin" (18) refers to the very strict God who predestined a small group of people to go to Heaven and the others for damnation.
2. "Plymouth Rock and Custer's Last Stand" (22) refers to the early Massachusetts colony founded by Separatist "pilgrims," and General Custer's death at Little Big Horn fighting Native Americans.
3. A Rorschach Test is the famous black-and-white inkblot test that is analyzed psychologically.
4. John Winthrop is the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the person who gave the famed "city upon a hill speech."
5. "Old Adam" refers to the evil inherent in human nature.
6. There are numerous references to Old Testament figures, such as Joseph and Rachel.
7. "Hansel and Gretel" is used as a way to discuss the stepmother/witch figure in the Putnam family.
8. Lizzie Borden murdered her father and stepmother with an axe in 1892 and was acquitted.

The most striking imagery is of a town, as the title suggests, "possessed." The warring factions, the turncoat family members, the hysterical girls, the embittered sons, the bloviating minister, the ponderous politicians—all of these people's obsessions, fears, anxieties, and quests for power lead to turmoil and tragedy.

It is paradoxical that the only main way one could avoid being sentenced for being a witch was to admit to being a witch; thus, those who admitted to being "evil" could be spared, while those who stubbornly maintained their innocence could be more easily sentenced and executed.

N/A

1. "the Town determined to take a stand" (40).

1. "The Book of Record is silent" (68).
2. "Though litigation continued for a decade more, the Rowley ironworks was dead" (126).