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Simile
Explanation and Analysis—Sucking Mouth:
Childbirth in the 17th century was a terrifying prospect for everyone involved and often came with grief. In this passage, Miller uses a simile to convey Mrs. Putnam’s profound fear and sorrow regarding the multiple deaths she had to endure as a mother. Pointing to her unconscious daughter, Goody Putnam explains why she called Reverend Parris in to see her:
MRS PUTNAM: Reverend Parris, I have laid seven babies unbaptized in the earth. Believe me, sir, you never saw more hearty babies born. And yet, each would wither in my arms the very night of their birth. I have spoke nothin’, but my heart has clamored intimations. And now, this year, my Ruth, my only- I see her turning strange. A secret child she has become this year, and shrivels like a sucking mouth were pullin’ on her life too. And so I thought to send her to you.
Here, Goody Putnam suspects her former midwives of cursing her, and of trying to kill Ruth, her only living child. By comparing the way Ruth’s condition progresses to “a sucking mouth” that is “pullin’ on her life,” Mrs. Putnam evokes an uncanny, parasitic feeling. It’s as though an unseen force is sapping her daughter’s vitality., which terrifies her. The idea of “sucking” in the context of discussing dying babies also feels frightening, as it suggests that breastfeeding is linked to death or decay.
Although Goody Putnma is particularly misfortunate, it was not at all uncommon for children (or mothers) to die in the process of birth in the 1600s. Expectant mothers had around a one in eight chance of dying in childbirth or from birth-related complications over the course of their lives. Babies had an even lower survival rate. Although Ann Putnam was actually 12 years old and one of the primary accusers in the real Salem witch trials, the real women of Salem of childbearing age and older would almost certainly have known losses like the ones this character describes. With no explanation for why babies seemed to suddenly die, “withering” in their parents’ arms, suspicion often fell on the women who helped in the birthing process. Midwives had a much higher chance of being accused of witchcraft than other members of the community, especially if they were unmarried and were easily scapegoated.
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