Journal of a Salem Villager 2nd Journal Entry 8/30/1962

8/30/1962

God forgive me for this, but in the very beginning, I must admit that Salem seemed secretly amused with all of the commotion that the talks of bewitching, conjurings, and the presence of Lucifer in the streets of Salem brought forth to us villagers. Initially, the slow start to the hysteria didn’t alarm anyone—with the exception of Parris, of course. No one possessed the foresight to imagine how quickly evil can spread if allowed to fester uncontrollably, or how fast individuals can become addicted to power when they keep drinking from its well. The two bewitched girls gave the entire town plenty of things to speculate over. Parents and school-yard teachers used the happenings to further lecture their children on the all too, real existence of Lucifer and how important it was to stay true to God’s purpose; simultaneously, the proceedings also gave everyone plenty of gossip to speculate excitedly about to friends and company. How can I say this? These happenings, ironically, brought forth a little excitement to our grim town. At least initially, I admit ashamedly. You have to understand that for most of us Salemites, this was something that was happening exclusively to the Parris and the Putnam girls; the cancerous accusations had not exploded yet, so no one lost sleep over two girls and the early talks of Lucifer and witchery plaguing Salem. As long as Lucifer’s claws didn’t extend to their immediate land and corrupted their families or friends, no one really lost sleep over the incident. Furthermore, Parris and Putnam were not the most likeable Salem residents, either. Everyone did pity Goody Putnam, sure—that much was universally true. Who’d lack the heart to harbor any ill-will towards a woman who’s lost seven of her eight babies? Perhaps she had a reason to believe in witches and devils instead of bad luck.

Anyways, it didn’t take long for Salem to start paying more attention to this matter of witches. The arrival of Reverend Hale also made matters worse. Sure, everyone found his presence amusing initially. In fact, any stranger stepping foot in our town always gave us something to talk about. Hale was not just any stranger. We were all curious about his occult books and his methodology for proving how someone had pacted with the devil. People, specifically women, stopped laughing and gossiping good-naturedly after the accusations began flying indiscriminately. Suddenly, being a woman was dangerous. It didn’t matter if you were a mother, a wife, a proven Christian… etc. The devil’s grasp knew no bounds. It was like Mr. Hale said, “The devil only wanted the best.” Thus, in Salem, no one was spared. Far from the prying gaze and ears of Abigail’s posse, we spoke contemptuously of those teenage girls. Some of us knew what was happening, sure, but we also feared them for their power to accuse us. Not all of us in Salem were that superstitious to lose our minds and think and act illogically. But what could we do? You see, Hale arrived in Salem without knowing who those girls really were. Furthermore, to make matters worse, the judges sent to Salem from Boston also didn’t know neither the accusers nor those accused. It didn’t matter if some of the accused had years of being great Christians, when those girls accused someone of witchery, those were serious charges. While Hale’s methods initially made a little bit of sense, we soon realized that any random mole or weird mark in someone’s body was enough proof to be labeled the devil’s mark. How could these educated and wise men, these Boston judges and this learned reverend fail to see how easy it was to label just about anybody a witch? One day, people will look back on these days and this town and scratch their heads in bewilderment regarding how we came to lose our minds on behalf of the children.