1962 marked a dark era in the county of Salem. Many people were prosecuted as being witches and/or engaging in witchcraft activities or practices. Many scholars wrote books on the events that happened during this period and Mary Norton was one of them. Mary conducted an in-depth research of these events and read over 8000 cases before embarking on a journey to Salem. Using the knowledge she had, she compiled her findings in a book known as In the Devils Snare: The Salem Witchcraft crisis of 1962 . Her novel is said to be an almost original recreation of the events in Salem in 1962. She modified most of what was written by other scholars while adding findings from other sources. The paper below will give a summary and analysis of Norton’s book.
For people born in recent decades, the story about the witchcraft events that took place in Salem may appear to be fictional. However, the book written by Mary was carefully researched and is actually a non-fiction story. Mary Norton begins her book by pointing out some obvious myths about the Salem witchcraft crisis. To begin with, the events took place in Essex County. According to Norton (2007), the crisis should have been referred to as the Essex witchcraft crisis. The crisis developed in Salem village, the now Danvers city, and not Salem town. After much research, Mary put down her findings which was presented in her book, In the Devils Snare: The Salem Witchcraft crisis of 1962 . Mary presents a good case on the relation of the second Indian war to the crisis. She points out how the ruthlessness of the participants changed how people operated and their traditions.
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The second Indian war brought with it some tension in the areas around Salem County (Norton, 2007). According to Norton, the events that followed the war could have been evaded if only the war had not occurred. After the war, there was fear among people, resorting to them seeking other forms of comfort, hence engaging in witchcraft activities. From this, emerged numerous accusations on witchcraft making the county officials become concerned. Therefore, there began a series of mass prosecutions. The book explains that the judges would ask an accused person of the period they had been in the devil’s snare. This is where Norton got the title of the book from. In the Devils Snare: The Salem Witchcraft crisis of 1962 claims that most of the people who pleaded guilty to the offense often went unpunished while those that were accused randomly faced a rather harsh ending.
In the Devils Snare: The Salem Witchcraft crisis of 1962 gives full details on the roles played by different people during this time. These are the accusers, the judges, the confessors and the Indian war. It was hard to convict an individual of witchcraft unless an adult claiming to see ghosts’ apparition made a confession. Other forms of evidence used according to the book were unusual growths on the body, the inability to make the Lord’s Prayer repeatedly and unusual strength (Norton, 2007). The judges took the confession of women without objecting, which was unusual as women at that time had no political or judicial authority. However, it is believed that these judges did so in order to cover up for their shortcomings in managing the people of Salem or the fact that they were somehow involved in the events. The judges also did not do much of investigating after the confessors made their conviction, which made many people who pleaded innocence, and were indeed innocent, die for nothing.
Mary Norton’s major thesis of her book is the correlation of the war to the crisis. It is the psychological effects of the war that brought about the witchcraft crisis. The people first believed that they were being punished by God. Later, after the witchcraft events started, they believed the devil was also punishing them. They believed that there were both visible and invisible forces against them, the visible being the Indians (Norton, 2007). When the war began, the Indians tormented many people, driving them out of their shelters. Most people relocated to Essex County, and it is here that they started their witchcraft activities. The purpose of turning to witchcraft was to obtain supernatural strength that shielded them from enemies. However, most of the witches used their powers for more bad deeds rather than good. The elders of the county being Christian saw that these practices were immoral, hence the beginning of the trials and the mass killings.
Norton (2007) continues to present her case of how the Essex County events swirled out of control. Witchcraft practices began slowly after the war and with time began to evolve. From page four to 11, she gives a deeper look into the 1st and 2nd Indian war and the emergence of the witchcraft activities that began to change slowly by slowly until the town could not handle the witches anymore. Her ideas are supported by a generous number of journal articles that she read before exploring Salem County. She gives a narration of two women whose lives changed after accusations of witchcraft activities. During this time, women and children have no control over their destinies and it was dangerous if they were caught in the act. The crisis ended in the killing of 144 people, out of which 38 were men. Many other people confessed to participating in the activities leading to brutal deaths and prosecution.
Mary Norton also confesses that she was intrigued by the fact that many accusers and the accused came from the northern frontier (Norton, 2007). This is the location that had experienced brutal fighting during both Indian wars. Many people had fled Maine after the 1st war but came back in time to participate in the second war. Many flourishing families were wiped out. After one week of reported witchcraft activities, a large group of Wabanaki Indians came and killed approximately 50 people while taking into captivity over 100 more. This experience resulted into trauma by the participants. Most significantly, the bodily torment of people was similar to the demonic activities of the people. Another significant fact, as pointed out by Mary, was that the people of Salem referred to the devil as the “Dark Man,” which also was the reference to the Indian man.
As mentioned earlier, the idea of witchcraft activities may sound fictional to modern day people. It is believed that having supernatural powers or demoniac interactions are horror fictions designed to entertain the multitude. However, basing on the evidence that Mary Norton produces, her work comes out as non-fictional. By taking her time to conduct exhaustive research on the case, Mary builds a strong case for her book and especially for her thesis. Her main objective is relating the war to the crisis, and her arrangement of her findings in the book, chapter to chapter, reveal that indeed, the war played a major part in making people turn to witchcraft.
Mary Norton works around the idea that people were driven by fear to want supernatural protection. The same applies to modern times where people will often do unimaginable things when faced with a terrifying scenario. The need to protect oneself from dying or getting hurt will make one look for many alternatives, with some turning to satanic practices. This is what the witches of Salem were after before their practices swirled out of control. However, it is a pity that some of the accused who faced prosecution were actually innocent. The judges were overwhelmed by trying to mask out their incompetence in protecting the people of the frontier that they resorted to believing any accusation brought forth.
In the Devils Snare: The Salem Witchcraft crisis of 1962 has two sides to it. On one hand, it enlightens its audience. Mary Norton does a remarkable job in providing a more detailed and up to date chronology of events in the five months of 1962. It also provides a concrete link between the events of Salem and the encounter of the English with the Indians. However, Mary goes overboard in providing evidence of the events. Too much of her findings have been forced into the text, making it almost look like she is forcing her ideas on readers. All in all, Mary’s book is worth reading and comes highly recommended.
References
Norton, M. B. (2007). In the devil's snare: the Salem witchcraft crisis of 1692 . Vintage.
