Previous
Chapter 6
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Puritan Hypocrisy
Love, Values, and Attraction
Difference, Prejudice, and Discrimination
Home and Belonging
Sexism
Summary
Analysis
Kit sits in awkward silence with William. No matter how many subjects she tries to bring up, William doesn’t seem interested in carrying the conversation. At last, Rachel stops by the company room (where Kit and William are) to invite them to pop corn in the kitchen with the rest of the family and John Holbrook, who has stopped by.
Kit and William’s awkward silence during their first meeting does not bode well for their relationship—they can’t find anything to talk about. William’s disinterest in the conversation suggests that he doesn’t care to learn how Kit thinks or what she believes.
Active
Themes
Over popcorn, the rest of the family asks William about his plans for his house, and Kit is shocked to hear him talk so much. At one point, William notes that the Assembly has declared that “there should be no unclaimed land left” in their county. Matthew thinks this is a wise move; if they wait, then the new governor will just hand the land over to his favorites.
Kit discovers that there are topics that William will talk extensively: his house and politics. The colonists’ defensiveness over their land shows how deeply the Puritans value their rights. Many of them are upset that Governor Andros will distribute land unfairly, which is why the colonists are trying to divide up any “unclaimed land” before Governor Andros arrives to divide it up for them.
Active
Themes
William respectfully disagrees with Matthew, arguing that the colony might lose all their rights if they anger the king. Kit is impressed—William isn’t “dim-witted,” like she had assumed. He even has the courage to stand up to Matthew. Matthew is less impressed, and he argues that if they “[s]urrender [their] charter,” they will lose all the rights, laws, and land that they have claimed for themselves.
Active
Themes
When John interjects that the Reverend Bulkeley believes that the people of Connecticut misinterpret the charter, Matthew becomes furious. He rants that John and William are too young and “soft” to understand the sacrifice that the first English arrivals to Connecticut made. These men, Matthew declares, toiled in order to have “the rights of free men.” On that note, he storms upstairs.
Active
Themes
Get the entire The Witch of Blackbird Pond LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Shortly after this, John and William leave. Mostly relieved, Kit announces to the remaining women that tonight was certainly the last time William will ever come by—Matthew was so dreadful to him. But Rachel and Judith disagree. They point out that William mentioned that he’s already in the process of building his house, which means that he has decided that he is going to marry Kit.
Active
Themes
Panicked, Kit tells the other women that she and William can’t even have a considerable conversation. Rachel tries to console her by reminding her that she and William are just getting to know each other and will have plenty to discuss soon.
Active
Themes
Rachel and Kit’s cousins are right: William begins to visit Kit every Saturday. For the most part, Kit feels flattered that “[t]he most eligible bachelor in Wethersfield” is interested in her. But at other moments, William’s confidence that she is going to marry him frustrates her—he has never so much as asked her about her feelings.
Kit finds herself thinking about William almost constantly, but she admits that she doesn’t have much else to think about—all she does otherwise is work. In fact, Kit sees William as the only person in New England who doesn’t expect her to “do the work of slaves,” which she sees as beneath her.
Active
Themes
