Black Cats Symbol Analysis

To the Puritans of Salem, Massachusetts, black cats are an ominous symbol of witchcraft. For paranoid villagers like Samuel Parris and his family, the mere presence of such a creature near their home is a sign that Satan is near. But if black cats are deeply frightening to many of the white Puritans, Judah White (a local New England healer and a friend of Tituba’s spiritual mentor Mama Yaya) sees them as important conduits of nature’s power. Indeed, Tituba finds that—in a land devoid of the tropical plants and animals she grew up with—black cats are often some of the best substitutes when it comes time to work her healing magic. The polarizing symbolism of the black cat then reveals a deeper fissure between Tituba, who is half-Ashanti, and the white people who enslave and persecute her. Whereas the white Puritans fear black cats (a nonsensical terror that itself might symbolize their pervasive anti-Blackness), Tituba finds power and comfort in these cats. Moreover, her ability to draw power from black cats shows that, even far from home, Tituba is aware that her “knowledge must adapt itself to society”—while Parris and his ilk operate within a rigid set of symbols, Tituba is able to bend her perceptions as her environment changes.