Rosalyn Schanzer’s Witches! The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem, is a Short, breakneck paced book discussing what happened, and possibly why it happened, in the tragedy of 1692. Betty and Abigail, wife and niece of Samuel of Parris, fell ill experienced numerous convulsions. A doctor’s unvarnished diagnosis was that they were bewitched! A deluge of accused puritans surged into Salem Village and neighboring town. Some people were even executed for the thought of being a witch. These accusations were caused by Confusion/Fear, Revenge, and Sport/Fun leading 19 innocent puritans to the gallows. Confusion and Fear was a prodigious hit at the first part of the Witch Trials. Nobody really knew what was happening “By March practically everyone …show more content…
Exhibit a: “Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba were accused of performing witchcraft by those afflicted. Good was a homeless beggar likely accused because of her reputation… All three of the accused had significant differences from the rest of the village of the villagers, making them easy targets for accusations.” (TotallyHistory.com). Townsmen were picking on the lower class just because they were poor, or slaves not only because they were different from them, also because they were vulnerable. Exhibit B: “ The combination of doctrine and subjective evidence all combined to produce an environment where accusations were easy to make and prove.” (TotallyHistory.com). This goes back to “Spectral” and “Invisible” evidence. People could make up whatever falsehood they felt obliged to and get somebody locked up for it. “Were some of them simply helping their parents by making their enemies look bad in court? Were they bored thrill seekers trying to get attention?... After all, John Proctor’s servant Mary Warren… reported that one girl said they went after the innocent suspects “for sport… we must have some sport.” (113). There is no denial that some people in Salem were sick enough to accuse one another for