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The salem witch trials of c17 america
The origin of superstitions essay
The origin of superstitions essay
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Plants and Superstitions
For many years plants have played a large part in superstitions. Although, they are not so much believed now, as they used to be. They were used to help one's fortune, wealth and fertility. It is amazing that bread was ever eaten; there were so many superstitions about it. It was used to aid in all of these things and many more, It is ironic, however, that the one thing they worshipped and used to keep harm and disease away made them ill and killed some of them. When all of this happened they blamed another superstition, which was witchcraft. "Almost all of the witchcraft misunderstandings were caused by Christianity's persecution of those who refused to abandon pagan beliefs" (Zolar, 1995), but not in the case of the Salem Witch trials.
In 1692 superstitions somehow became the way of thinking. The misuse of it led to the executions of many innocent people in this country. Witchcraft was the crime, for which they were wrongly accused. Fact Net Inc. (see Internet Source) defines superstitions as "Beliefs held despite evidence. They are based on the belief that some people, Plants, animals, stars, words, numbers or special things have magical powers, which contradicts what we know about the world."
A mysterious illness overcame Salem, Massachusetts. Thrashing around, moaning, babbling, and crying made up what were called "convulsive fits," which suddenly occurred in eight girls daily. Hallucinations were also a part of their fits. (see Internet Source). Everyone was terrified. Doctors came to visit, but they did not know much about disease and medicines at that time. One doctor questioned the idea of witchcraft and soon rumors spread that there was a witch in town, or maybe even a group of them we...
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...tific thinking has almost swept away the ignorance of superstitions that once kept people from learning about out world. Like in the case of the Salem Witch trials "When minds are poisoned by the ignorance of superstitions, terrible things happen" (see Internet Source).
Bibliography
Bennett, J.W. 1999. Pride and Prejudice: The story of ergot. Perspective in Biology and Medicine 42 (3): 333-355.
Spanos, Nicholas P. 1983. Ergotism and the Salem witch panic: a critical analysis and an alternative conceptualization. Journal of the History of Behavioral Sciences 19 (4): 358-369.
Starkey, Marion L. 1949. The Devil in Massachusetts, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 39- 48, 138-158.
Zolar.1995. Encyclopedia of signs, omens and superstitions. Carol Publishing Group, New York. 50-52,380.
Internet Source: http://www.xenu.org/factnet/GEN/FILES/BOOKS/TRUE.TXT
The Salem witch craft trials are the most learned about and notable of Europe's and North America's witch hunts. Its notoriety and fame comes from the horrendous amount of people that were not only involved, but killed in the witch hunt and that it took place in the late 1700's being one of the last of all witch hunts. The witch craft crises blew out of control for several reasons. Firstly, Salem town was facing hard economic times along with disease and famine making it plausible that the only explanation of the town's despoilment was because of witches and the devil. As well, with the stimulation of the idea of witch's from specific constituents of the town and adolescent boredom the idea of causing entertainment among the town was an ever intriguing way of passing time.
The Salem Witch trials were when hundreds of citizens of Salem, Massachusetts were put on trial for devil-worship or witchcraft and more than 20 were executed in 1692. This is an example of mass religion paranoia. The whole ordeal began in the home of Reverend Samuel Parris. People soon began to notice strange behavior from Parris’s slave, Tituba, and his daughters. Many claimed to have seen Parris’s daughters doing back magic dances in the woods, and fall to the floor screaming hysterically. Not so long after, this strange behavior began to spread across Salem.
During the time of the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692, more than twenty people died an innocent death. All of those innocent people were accused of one thing, witchcraft. During 1692, in the small town of Salem, Massachusetts many terrible events happened. A group of Puritans lived in Salem during this time. They had come from England, where they were prosecuted because of their religious beliefs. They chose to come live in America and choose their own way to live. They were very strict people, who did not like to act different from others. They were also very simple people who devoted most of their lives to God. Men hunted for food and were ministers. Women worked at home doing chores like sewing, cooking, cleaning, and making clothes. The Puritans were also very superstitious. They believed that the devil would cause people to do bad things on earth by using the people who worshiped him. Witches sent out their specters and harmed others. Puritans believed by putting heavy chains on a witch, that it would hold down their specter. Puritans also believed that by hanging a witch, all the people the witch cast a spell on would be healed. Hysteria took over the town and caused them to believe that their neighbors were practicing witchcraft. If there was a wind storm and a fence was knocked down, people believed that their neighbors used witchcraft to do it. Everyone from ordinary people to the governor’s wife was accused of witchcraft. Even a pregnant woman and the most perfect puritan woman were accused. No one in the small town was safe. As one can see, the chaotic Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 were caused by superstition, the strict puritan lifestyle, religious beliefs, and hysteria.
Witchcraft has been present in many other religions, not only the Puritan religion. Witchcraft was also found in Catholic and Protestant parts of Europe. The Salem Witch Trials were smaller in comparison to those in Scotland, France, or Germany (Hall 3). Though the trials in Salem were smaller, people recognize the Salem Witch Trials as one of the worst times in American history (“Witch Madness” 4). The Puritans believed that the Devil was alive in their community (“Witch Madness” 2). The accusations started in February 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts when young Puritan girls were found using magic. The Salem Witch Trials began when Betty Paris, Abigail Williams, and some of their friends began to act strange with odd fits (Hall 1). Because many mental and emotional disorders were not understood, the people of Salem believed it was the work of witchcraft. When sickness or even misfortune came, the most
In the early winter months of 1692, in colonial Massachusetts, two young girls began exhibiting strange symptoms that were described to be "beyond the power of Epileptic Fits or natural disease to effect (examiner.com)." Doctors looked them over, but could not come up with any sort of logical explanation for their ailments. Therefore, the girls were accused of taking part in witchcraft. Soon, other young women in the village started showing similar symptoms. This "illness" of sort slowly made its way through the village to many of the residents. Soon, people started coming up with possible theories as to what started all the madness.
During the early winter of 1692 two young girls became inexplicably ill and started having fits of convulsion, screaming, and hallucinations. Unable to find any medical reason for their condition the village doctor declared that there must be supernatural forces of witchcraft at work. This began an outbreak of hysteria that would result in the arrest of over one hundred-fifty people and execution of twenty women and men. The madness continued for over four months.
Witchcraft was as a capital crime in seventeenth-century New England. A hysteria over it was caused by a group of girls. (Kent 95). Witchcraft was considered a terrible crime throughout Europe; its punishment was death by hanging or burning. (Dolan 8). Everyone in the village of Salem believed in witchcraft, and only a few have tried to use it. (Kent 18). In 1692, Salem Village hysteria was a major event in United States history, which will never be forgotten. The people of Salem were caught up in a hysteria of accusing many innocent woman of witchcraft, even though it started as just a couple young girls who had acted strangely.
(A)J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, displays the mentality of a teen who struggles to deal with the idea of growing up. (B)Holden, the central figure of the narrative, views growing up as falling into the superficiality of society and strives to prevent children from maturing. (C)The name Holden Caulfield is representative of his wish to be a savior for children who are going through adolescence and to prevent their innocence from being corrupt by a society enclosed in lies but realizes that it is futile and that it could actually cause harm and be a barrier for development.
Holden is afraid of change and believes that everything should stay the same. He explains how he wants to preserve everything when he states, "Certain things they should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that's impossible, but it's too bad anyway" (122). Holden is stuck in the mindset that everything is good the way it is and the thought of anything changing to him seems unworldly and that he should just preserve everything so nothing ever changes. He is also frozen and stuck in transitioning to adulthood, when all of the people around his age are accepting adulthood he still has the mindset that he will stay young. Holden asks a cab driver about the duck in the pond and says, “You know those ducks in the lagoon right near Central Park South? That little lake? By any chance, do you happen to know where they go, the ducks, when it gets all frozen over? Do you happen to know by any chance?”(60). Holden is a representation of the pond, while the ducks go and fly away while the weather changes Holden is stuck there. He favors childhood over adulthood most of the time and finds that the innocence of youth should be
In The Catcher in the Rye, we get a first-hand look at Holden's exact thoughts and emotions. The superficiality, falseness, and phoniness of the adult world, his fondness, and affection for his sister Phoebe, and his curiosity, and fascination with ducks in a pondall come into play about his character. Holden's mentality about the adult world secretly scares him causing him to be afraid to move on and mature. He believes that “Certain things they should just stay the way they are” (Salinger 122). If he could just stay the same he would be content. JD Salinger uses many symbols throughout the novel that reveal Holden’s personality and disposition towards his transition into adulthood- his fear of change and growing up. (P9)
In 1692 two girls were staying together and trying the art of fortune telling. It was said that the slave Tituba had influenced them to do this by telling them old witch tales. Though nobody really knows what exactly happened that day, the two girls started having very strange fits. A doctor was called and he claimed the girls were bewitched. The doctor did not know then, but he had started a chain of events that would lead to the death of twenty women. As hysteria began to spread, there were eight young girls who decided they would fake what Betty and Abigail had done. Some families started to accuse the other families they were feuding with and this is what caused the upcoming conflict with several women. These women’s cases were presented in court and there was little to no evidence that these women were actually guilty. The eight afflicted girls claimed they could see the sprit of the accused attacking them and it was used as “spectral evidence.” As a result of this “spectral evidence” twenty Salem women were either hanged, burnt at the stake, or crushed to death. As the amount of accusations began to be absurd, people began to question if the accused were really witches or not and if the “spectral evidence” was really credible. This event made people begin to realize that it was just a way for feuding families to get back at each other. The community started to realize how wrong what they were doing actually was. The events that had happened led to a change in the acceptable evidence in court systems. This change of attitude resolved the situation and quite possibly helped the world learn from the wrongfulness of the unfair
One of the most challenging times during a person’s life is by far being a young adolescent. Teenagers today face so many changes both physical and physiological. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, the main character, and the narrator, Holden Caulfield, a young teenage boy in the 1950’s, faces many difficulties with not only the world around him, but also within himself. As a troubled 16 year old, Holden Caulfield, is having a very difficult time accepting that he is becoming an adult and still wanting to stay an adolescent. Throughout the entire book, Caulfield struggles with understanding the world around him. He protects himself from the world by being judgmental to everyone around him while feeling safe in the fantasy world he created for himself.
The works of J.D. Salinger's Catcher and the Rye has resonated inside society for generations. Throughout the novel, Holden–a teenager who is spiraling towards a mental breakdown–experiences difficulties growing up. After the loss of his brother and the expulsion from his school, he starts to form his own opinions on the adult world. Throughout Holden’s experiences, his mind becomes more and more tainted as he his innocence slowly leaves him. He idolizes other people who have not yet been through what he has. Salinger uses symbolism to demonstrate how Holden despises the loss of innocence in growing up.
Tom Stoppard once said, “If you carry your childhood with you, you never become older.” Childhood is hard to let go of and becoming a mature adult is also challenging. But dwelling in the past does not make growing up easier. In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield, the main narrator of the book, has issues with childhood and adulthood. He shows these issues by telling readers his thoughts and memories from the past. He makes it clear throughout the book that he does not want change. Holden is stuck between entering the adult world and staying with being a child that he has been for so long.
It takes a lot of courage to grow up. At a young age, adolescence seems like it is full of endless opportunities. In reality, growing up is much different than what childhood implies. Taking on new responsibilities and facing new challenges are all part of transitioning from being a child to an adult. As Peter Pan once mentioned, “I’ll never grow up, I’ll never grow up!” Set on the same mindset as this children’s character, Holden also fears growing up and facing reality. He is threatened by taking on new responsibilities and is not ready to face new hardships ahead. Holden is fixated on the idea that childhood lasts forever, and is wedged between staying a child and being an adult. In Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger uses symbolism in order