Frost 1
Sarah Frost
Mrs. Hooper
Senior Paper
16 April, 2015 Belief in the supernatural In the state of Maine, an extremely talented writer in the genre of horror was born. This man is Stephen King. “King performs another rite common in contemporary bestsellerdom: he breaks social taboos” (Herron). Stephen King often produces novels that do not comply with the norm. “King reworks traditional material to the delight of the horror fan” (Herron). The idea of vampires that are capable of corrupting the majority of the town and the idea of a “haunted house” are both a classic ideas for a horror story and simply are “social taboos” (Herron). Characters in King's 'Salem's Lot such as Susan Norton and Father Callahan
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Susan Norton's skepticism to believing what Ben Mears had strongly believed in was slightly ironic, since she was killed by vampire Kurt Burlow. Father Callahan's belief in the Catholic religion was finally re-strengthened after he had become custom to the idea of the undead actually existing. Although difficult for Ben Mears, he did accept the death of Susan and was able to move on. “There are many kinds of nightmare. Some have familiar, even domestic settings, in which commonplace particulars are charged up with uncanny and inexplicable power to intimidate. It is the kind of night that King is most adept at evoking, and the kind with which he is probably most readily identified” (Hoppenstand). The idea of believing in classic types of horror stories-vampires and haunted houses, is made easy by Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot. The setting of the story and the idea of vampires and haunted houses are all basic, however King is able to extend these classic ideas into something much more scarier than how it sounds. Especially if the reader believes the undead and haunted houses actually do
The Salem, Massachusetts Witch Trials have generated extensive evaluation and interpretation. To explain the events in Salem, psychological, political, environmental, physical, and sociological analysis have all been examined. The authors Linnda Caporael, Elaine Breslaw, Anne Zeller, and Richard Latner all present differing perspectives to speculate about the events of the Salem Witch Trials. This changing interpretation and perspective has resulted in an extensive historiography to explain the
Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft is a concise, 231 page informational text by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum. Published in 1974, it explores the economic and social conditions present in the Salem village during the 1600s that led to the hysteria surrounding witchcraft. Multiple graphs and illustrations are present, as well as an average sized font, an abundance of footnotes typically on the left page, and a prominent voice from the authors. The book was written to serve as a more comprehensive informational piece on the Salem witch trials due to the authors finding other pieces written about the same topic to be inaccurate. Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum wanted to create something that utilized
In authoritarian societies the use of manipulation and fear tactics destroy any form of individuality. Salem is a puritan community where individuals live in a restrictive society of religious standards.
We have all heard the tales and seen the movies of evil witches cooking little kids up for supper. For the people of salem in 1692-1693 this was a reality. In the matter of less than a year more than two hundred people were accused of witchcraft and more than twenty were executed. In these historic events author Arthur Miller wrote a play about the people and events in this play there is a man, Reverend Hale is well versed in the study of witchcraft and has come to try and save the girls that have been gripped by the Devil. Miller has Hale change very much throughout the event of this play. In the beginning he believes that the Devil is at work in Salem, how ever near the climactic ending of this play he realises that this witch talk has gotten completely out of hand
In order to understand the outbreak of the witchcraft hysteria in Salem, Massachusetts in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum, authors of Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft, explore the social and economic divisions and tensions within Salem and the surrounding communities. Both Boyer and Nissenbaum have a strong background in history. Paul Boyer (1935-2012) was the Merle Curti Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as well as a cultural and intellectual historian who authored several other books. Stephen Nissenbaum was a Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst who authored several other books as well. In Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of
The author wrote about this specific subject because of his profession, where he lives, and to clarify any confusions about the actual events of the Salem Witch Trials. The author wrote about the specific people and places mentioned in the book to establish the events of the trial through more than one point of view. By using an unprecedented format for writing, and by retelling the accounts of different people, places, and how they compare, Baker established a sense of confident understanding for his readers to
In the beginning of the late seventeenth century a sense of fear and panic was sweeping throughout the colonies of North America this fear began in a small town in Massachusetts called Salem and would lead to the death of nineteen people. This fear was caused by young Puritan girls who started randomly convulsing and accusing people of being witches many of the accused were women many single or widowed who owned land and this event was titled The Salem Witch Trails, but another smaller very significant event also took place during this period of time that event is the attempted hanging of Mary Webster. Both of these events are very significant in the fact that they would become a basis of American literature and would bring about a very big theme even in today`s literature that theme being “A majority does not always make the right decision.” Both of these events would lead to the writing of two significant pieces
Although in Salem, Ma, the Bible is the one book that is to read as others are banned. When a couple teenage girls accuse others of witchcraft in order to save themselves, Reverend Hale comes to help determine those that are guilty. Through this process Giles reveals that he has woken up to find his wife, Martha "in a corner, readin ' of a book" (Miller 40). Readers are able to tell that it was wrong on his part to mention such a thing, due to the fact that if you were able to read anything besides a Bible then you were said to be taking part of witchcraft. Since the town revolved around the Bible and it 's teachings anyone who did not attend church was seen as an outsider and a witch. Theology is what rules in this village, if someone is not content with the laws and teaching then they are known as one with the devil. "There be no love for Satan"(67), this is all that is taught in the town. To fear the devil and hell is all that is engraved in their heads.
Arthur Miller's portrayal of Salem, Massachusetts can be juxtaposed with Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany. While the motivations differ, societal similarities exist and both teach us that when a whole society of people have a fear so great that it can be used against them, the society will try to do anything and everything in their power to prevent this from happening. Even when the means of prevention involves innocent people dieing and the judiciary system becoming corrupt, the society will act upon this fear of wickedness and the devil.
In complex relationships between individuals, and society leads to tension between good and evil. David Calcutt’s portrayed and catastrophic play Salem uses views of society, besides individual to engage in a relationship of values and beliefs in the range of superstition in the 1962 of witchcraft. Nevertheless this is emphasized through the themes of judgment, power, prejudice, individualism and good vs. evil. However Calcutt’s play Salem reinforces society, and individual contextual concerns on behalf of ideals of religion, and culture with the desire to conform. Salem is an intriguingly written that states the pensive issues faced with society and individual attempt to imitate from chastisement.
Being isolated from any other group of people with different beliefs created a church led Puritan society that was not able to accept a lot of change. The church was against the devil, at the same time it was against such things as dancing and other premature acts. The reputation of the family was very important to the members of the community. When the girls were caught dancing in the woods, they lied to protect not just themselves but the reputation of their families. They claimed that the devil took them over and influenced them to dance. The girls also said that they saw members of the town standing with the devil. A community living in a puritan society like Salem could easily go into a chaotic state and have a difficult time dealing with what they consider to be the largest form of evil.
Salem Village, a small town in Massachusetts, is a very peaceful society. There are small fights, like when half of the village agreed to have a church there and half of the hoi polloi who doesn’t like the idea. Still, it was a very tranquil village. People there are Puritans. Puritans are strict Christian believers. They believe that women and children are to be seen, not heard. They believe that the devils and witches have specters, and specters can attack people. Puritans blame bad crops, death of others, and dreadful events on witches. It was still a halcyon village, until in 1692, when madness arrived in Salem Village, Massachusetts.
As the adolescents wail in their pretentious horror of a fictional bird, Proctor slowly realizes the conformation that Satan has entered Salem. Arthur Miller’s tragic allegory, The Crucible, shows the destruction of sinister Salem in 1692. The protagonist, John Proctor, a damnable farmer, has a lecherous affair with the antagonist, Abigail Williams, an ignorant and covetous juvenile. Satan mixes their interior motives to manufacture a catastrophic concoction. The ingredients of destruction consist of selfishness, immaturity, and corruption. The voracious desires of the natives of Salem lead to their evil and self-indulged intentions.
The story is set in seventeenth-century Salem, a time and place where sin and evil were greatly analyzed and feared. The townspeople, in their Puritan beliefs, were obsessed with the nature of sin and with finding ways to be rid of it altogether through purification of the soul. At times, people were thought to be possessed by the devil and to practice witchcraft. As punishment for these crimes, some were subjected to torturous acts or even horrible deaths. Thus, Hawthorne’s choice of setting is instrumental in the development of theme.
The book Salem’s Lot by Stephen King is an exceptionally crafted gothic literary piece! It continuously keeps the reader on the edge of their seat while keeping them fully immersed within the story! The book is set in 1975 starting in a small town in maine that is overrun by vampiric monsters. King uses Gothic Literary elements like Gloomy decaying setting, Supernatural beings, monsters, and phantoms, Heroes, and Intense Emotions to round out the story and create a bond between the reader and the text.