Why does Mrs. Putnam believe there are witches in Salem?

In The Crucible, Mrs. Putnam believes there are witches in Salem because witchcraft gives her a way to explain the deaths of seven of her babies and the strange condition of her only surviving child, Ruth.

Mrs. Putnam has suffered repeated infant deaths, and she cannot accept them as natural or unexplained losses. Before the play’s public panic begins, she sends Ruth to Tituba to conjure the spirits of the dead babies so Ruth can discover why they died. When Ruth then becomes strangely afflicted, Mrs. Putnam grows even more certain that some hidden evil force is at work. Her grief turns into suspicion: if her babies died, someone must have caused it.

This is why she is so eager to interpret Betty Parris’s condition as witchcraft too. When Betty cries out during a psalm, Mrs. Putnam treats it as proof that Betty cannot bear holy words. She also repeats rumors that Betty flew, even though Parris denies it. Her mind is already prepared to see every strange event as a sign of the devil.

Her suspicion becomes more focused when Tituba names Mrs. Osburn as a witch. Mrs. Osburn had been the midwife at three of Mrs. Putnam’s failed deliveries, so the accusation gives Mrs. Putnam a specific person to blame. Her belief is also mixed with resentment toward Rebecca Nurse, whose children have survived. Later, Rebecca is charged with murdering Mrs. Putnam’s babies.

Mrs. Putnam’s line, “There are wheels within wheels in this village, and fires within fires!” shows how she imagines Salem as full of hidden plots and invisible powers. In The Crucible, her grief helps fuel the town’s religious fear and create accusations against innocent people.