Analysis Of Escaping Salem, The Other Witch Hunt Of 1692 '

Escaping Salem, the Other Witch Hunt of 1692 was written by Richard GodBeer. Many know about the Salem Witch Trails of 1692, however not many knew about the Witch Trials that happened in Stamford, Connecticut that same year. Richard GodBeer takes it upon himself to explain in depth the story of Kate Branch. GodBeer begins the book by describing the setting of the book, it was June in 1692 and the narrative would take place in a small town off the northern shore of Long Island. (Godbeer, 1) After the introduction of few characters one being Ebenezer Bishop, the first incident of a Witch encounter happens. As Bishop is walking, he hears a scream of immense pain and fright. This is when the main characters of the book are introduced. The young

When everything seemed to be going well for the Wescott family, the author describes one of Katherine’s fit by saying, “Katherine was crying and moaning, her hands clutching her chest, and she was panting as though the Devil himself had chased her home” (GodBeer, 14) Although Abigail did not always believe she was telling the truth, and did not really trust her. Her and her husband, Daniel, wanted to get to the bottom of what was really wrong with Katherine. It was believed to be Daniel and Abigail’s moral obligation to take care of Katherine according to the church. Throughout the first chapter many of Kates fits happened, and there were countless witnesses, such as Ebenezer Bishop and other neighbors. Surprisingly as more attacks happened, Kate started calling out certain community members name and had stranger fits. These neighbors witness Kate scream, “Goody Clawson, turn head over heels…Now they’re going to kill me! They’re pinching me on my neck!” (GodBeer, 28) With many more attacks, and neighbors witnessing it firsthand the question of who was tormenting her became the

Being such a narrative, when I was reading about the details of Kate’s attacks I was actually scared. It gave a sense of spookiness to the book that I hoped for. I remember visiting the city of Salem, and the same chills I had walking through the town was relived while reading the book. However one difference about this book compared to the historical teachings of Salem was that in Kate’s trail it was less of a he said she said event and more on the cold hard facts. In GodBeer testimony, he examines much of what Jonathan Selleck notes on how to determine a witch is guilty because he knew how serious of an offense it truly was. I sometimes found myself wondering if this was a fictional story because of how elaborate it was or however, when he used experts from documents such as the petition for Elizabeth Clawson. The last two chapters is much about the trial process than I expected, which helped me to understand this book as a narrative with much historical