Explore the ways in which Miller presents the power of superstition in this passage.
Fear of the superstition of witchery drove the town of Salem into mayhem causing them to hang many of their own, whom they feared were witches. This is evident when the people of Salem fear the "workings of the devil" and become suspicious that anything out of the ordinary is witchery led by the devil . Imaginations flared as stories were told of Betty (Parris's niece) flying, even though she was only pretending to be witched. Because of the superstition of witchcraft many people became hysterical and accused women of being witches for ridiculous reasons. Some of these reasons included Goody Putnam's babies dying at birth "my babies always shrivelled". The aspect of witchcraft is supposed to be allegorical for McCarthyism where if people did not confess to being a communist, they could be punishment sometimes even being put in prison and many confessed despite it being a lie so that they avoided punishment (Miler was forbidden from writing).
Tituba is a black female slave, an individual without any power. She cannot hope to defend herself against Abigail's accusations "she makes me drink blood! ... she makes me laugh at prayer!" using exclamatory dialogue Abigail exaggerates the situation more to make herself seem less of a suspect as she draws the blame onto Tituba, even though she and Abigail both know that Abigail is lying. Hale questions Tituba and tells her that she can redeem herself by admitting that she has been working with the Devil and by telling him the names of anyone else involved "You must have no fear to tell us who they are, do you understand? we will protect you". Tituba confesses to witchcraft when the townspeople threaten her with physical violence "I will take you out and whip you to your death". The fact that Tituba confesses to witchcraft "I tell him I don't desire to work for him" In order to preserve her own life, Tituba takes cues from her interrogators and tells them what they want to hear "the devil got him numerous witches." The
Tituba is a black female slave, an individual without any power. She cannot hope to defend herself against Abigail's accusations "she makes me drink blood! ... she makes me laugh at prayer!" using exclamatory dialogue Abigail exaggerates the situation more to make herself seem less of a suspect as she draws the blame onto Tituba, even though she and Abigail both know that Abigail is lying. Hale questions Tituba and tells her that she can redeem herself by admitting that she has been working with the Devil and by telling him the names of anyone else involved "You must have no fear to tell us who they are, do you understand? we will protect you". Tituba confesses to witchcraft when the townspeople threaten her with physical violence "I will take you out and whip you to your death". The fact that Tituba confesses to witchcraft "I tell him I don't desire to work for him" In order to preserve her own life, Tituba takes cues from her interrogators and tells them what they want to hear "the devil got him numerous witches." The