Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Escaping Salem, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Women, Witchcraft, and the Subversion of Gender Norms
Fear, Law, and Control
Practical Threats vs. Spiritual Betrayals
Scapegoating and Blame
Summary
Analysis
As the trials approached, many residents of Stamford and Compo began sharing stories among themselves of unfortunate encounters they’d had with Goody Clawson and Goody Disborough. One man spoke with a neighbor about how, after a quarrel with Goody Clawson, his young daughter experienced terrible pain for two weeks before passing away. He was now certain that Goody Clawson caused the girl’s death. Mary Newman claimed that after a similarly small quarrel with Goody Clawson over her child stealing from Goody Clawson’s apple orchard, three of the Newmans’ sheep suddenly died. Godbeer states that because so many things about life in Stamford were mysterious, unnerving, or inexplicable, it’s understandable that these individuals believed that bewitchment could explain away their misfortunes.
Illnesses, fires, the death of livestock, and the failure of crops all had natural causes—but 17th-century Puritans also saw the supernatural as a reasonable explanation for these things. Adversity could be seen as punishment from God—or a neighbor’s ability to harness malevolent forces for their own devices. The power of hearsay was undeniable, and as neighbors compared stories, they found that they all seemed to share a common enemy. To dispel their fears of the unseen, Stamford residents rallied together against a scapegoat for their troubles.
Themes
Godbeer goes on to explain that because of the deeply communal nature of life in Stamford, everyone’s collective welfare depended on good will and cooperation between neighbors. Conflict threatened Puritan values—and it was often seen as the work of (or a spiritual opening to) the Devil.
In Compo, a man named Goodman Grey claimed that years ago, Goody Disborough had bewitched his livestock and led them to drown to death in a swamp. Goodman Grey also claimed that after bargaining for a new kettle with the Disboroughs, the kettle he took home from Goody Disborough tarnished and bent spontaneously as soon as he arrived home with it. He explained her ornery nature as evidence of witchcraft. Many other neighbors came forward with stories of strange losses of livestock in the wake of quarrels with Goody Disborough. Many of these neighbors had, in the past, confronted Goody Disborough and accused her of witchcraft. She always denied the allegations wholeheartedly, yet the community’s distrust of her persisted.
Goody Disborough was seen as an ill-tempered, untrustworthy woman to begin with—and the strange happenings amid quarrels or disagreements with her pushed her neighbors over the edge. In a strict Puritan community like Compo, being a rough-spoken woman was a social aberration—and being a dishonest or opportunistic neighbor was an even greater one. These things combined made evil and witchcraft the only logical explanation for Mercy’s behavior in the eyes of her wary neighbors.
Themes
In September of 1692, as Goody Disborough’s trial began, many agitated neighbors traveled all the way from Compo to tell stories that seemed to confirm her facility with witchcraft. One man, Edward Jesop, claimed that as Mercy and another guest at a dinner party debated scripture over an open Bible, the words on the pages of the holy book blurred when Mercy Disborough touched them. That night, on the way home, the man’s horse continually tried to steer itself into the river. Goodman Grey came forward again to tell the story of how, when he suspected his cattle of being bewitched, he cut off the ear of one of his heifers, hoping to cause pain in whoever had procured the spell. Days later, he heard that Mercy Disborough was confined to bed with terrible pains.
As Mercy Disborough’s neighbors continued bringing forth anecdotes of her witchcraft, the circumstantial evidence against her began to pile up. In a situation in which invisible crimes were being legislated, the mountain of ill reports against her would have been seen as the closest thing to hard evidence the courts were able to obtain. At the same time, the special court trying the case would have been aware that simple rumors were not enough—some kind of physical evidence or a confession would be needed to hold Mercy accountable for her invisible transgressions.
Themes
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As officials continued gathering evidence against both Mercy Disborough and Elizabeth Clawson, it became clear that their communities’ fear and hatred of them were “part of a larger story.” It was now up to the courts to use the combination of communal hearsay and evidence to decide whether the two women would be charged for their crimes.
Godbeer once again emphasizes that even amid mounting circumstantial evidence against both women, the courts knew that they needed to tread carefully as they proceeded. Otherwise, they could sow further panic, distrust, and anger throughout the community.
Themes
