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Summary Of Half Hanging Mary By Margaret Atwood

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In the poem “Half-Hanged Mary” by Margaret Atwood is about a woman, Mary Webster, who is falsely accused of being a witch in the 1680s. Mary is accused by her neighbors because they wanted her land. In this time period it was rare for a woman to have land under her name. Mary was hanged throughout the whole night and survived. Mary lived for another 14 years. The poem is a powerful because it shows how Mary was falsely accused and powerless to overcoming her death and being stronger than ever. Margaret Atwood gives the reader a glance at Mary’s point of view before, during, and after her hanging and points out how in that time period people would falsely accused someone for their own selfish purpose.
Atwood begins with a sardonic tone to explain why she would be targeted and accused of being a witch. Atwood creates this tone by using imagery. Mary in the beginning hours explain she is accused “for living alone, for having blue eyes and sunburned skin, tattered skirt, few buttons, a weedy farm in [her] name, and surface cure for wart, oh yes and breast.” Mary is sarcastic and bitter because she thinks it is ridiculous for her neighbors to accuse her. …show more content…

Mary begins to have no hope and starts questioning God if it was her [her] “choice that [she] dangling like a turkey’s wattles from this more than indifferent tree.’’ Mary goes on to explain how her “body dangles with strength going out of [her]” and describes how her “blood bulges in [her] skull’’ and how her “lungs flail as if drowning.” Atwood gives the readers a better understanding of how Mary feels at 3am by using no punctuation and making it a run on to give the readers a feeling of being out of

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