Salem Witch Trials In The Sacrifice

In the novel, The Sacrifice by Kathleen Benner Duble, Abigail and Dorothy Faulkner are victims of being accused falsely for witchcraft during the time of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. Abigail and Dorothy Faulkner are both young girls around the age of ten. The girls grew up in a small town called Andover in Massachusetts, reasonably close to Salem, where the trials were held. The story begins with Abigail being punished for running in the fields with her skirt lifted up, and at the time, that was a sin for women. They both live their lives with their family on their farm doing chores daily, such as tending the animals, sewing, and other indoor chores. Their lives go on regularly with their daily complaints of chores until their grandfather,

Abigail and Dorothy are immediately arrested by Constable Ballard and Justice Bradstreet, both officials of the town. The two girls are then sent to the Salem Town Prison. They live in the dark, damp, stench-filled prison for weeks with their Aunt Elizabeth who has also been accused to witchcraft. As the weeks past, Aunt Elizabeth dies of sickness caused by the unfit environment of the prison. This brings serious attention and worry to the girls’ mother, Mama. Mama visits the girls and tells them to accuse her of witchcraft so they would be proved innocent when their trials come and Mama replaces them in jail. Mama does this because she knows that she would not be hanged or put to death because she bears a baby and law states that the baby must be delivered before

Duble’s family lineage connects to Abigail Faulkner back generations. As Duble did research on her family past, she wrote the story of Abigail and Dorothy to reveal what people did during the Witch trials and how people reacted to it. The main focus of the book was the motherly connection between the girls and Mama. Mama was willing to take her children’s place in the prison just so that she knows that they are safe from the harsh environment of the prison. Aunt Elizabeth, who died in the prison, was a symbol for all the other prisoners who were victims of being wrongly accused. Just as Aunt Elizabeth died, many others died just like her and it wasn’t uncommon. As the story ends, Abigail decides to sin again, by lifting up her skirt and racing across the field. This signifies her freedom from the witchcraft