Salem witch trials - Book Report/Review Example

Naturally, the degree and extent to which this rather isolated community of Puritans could affect the outside world is seemingly small; however, it is distinctly represented with regards to the way in which the slave from the Caribbean, Tituba, is caught up in the intrigue and tyrannical superstition that is foisted upon her by the young women who accuse her of being a witch. As such, the main characters of this particular book are the young women who began the witch hunt by indicating their enemies as potential witches.

The web of conspiracy and doubt spreads to the fellow townspeople and long harbored feelings of resentment and hatred are brought out through accusations of witchcraft against longtime neighbors that might not otherwise have engaged in any such wrongdoing. The senselessness of the entire situation continues to advance until the point that Susanna and and Putnam feel guilt for the horrors that they have inflicted upon their fellow residents. Upon realizing that lives are at stake and a continuation of this madness will only result in the deaths of more of their friends and fellow townspeople, the girls come forward and confess their crime before the church.

The irony of the entire situation is that the theocratic leadership of the entire region of Salem is quick to forgive the girls that come forward with the fact that they had been lying all along; while at the same time radical drives to punish and drive out those individuals accused of these false allegations have taken place. From a personal perspective, this book was very much helpful with regards to the idiocy of theocracy in the way in which “divine understanding” can somehow be interpreted by a group of elders within a given community.

The dangers of Salem are represented throughout the past and within the current world. One does not need to look far in order to find communities of ostracized religious fanatics within countries throughout the globe. Oftentimes these individuals keep to themselves, only visiting the horrors of their superstitious and close minded worldview upon their immediate community members. Other times, they find it necessary to seek to impose their stunted and warped view of how the world should be upon unsuspecting individuals within the outside world.

The take away that can be had from all of this is not necessarily with regards to the way in which the historical occurrence of the Salem witch trials continues to represent a particularly dark chapter within the early history of the United States. Rather, it is concentric upon providing the reader with a more nuanced understanding of the way in which radicalism and short sighted religious zeal is a continual threat to human dignity and freedom. They further tacit warning is with regards to the way in which childhood innocence is supposed to always exist and therefore indict an older individual where no crime has in fact been committed.

This level of child indictment continues to be a fixture of current society as the word of a child is somehow always viewed as tantamount to the truth. As such, it is this reviewer’s understanding that the author of the book was ultimately trying to warn the reader with regards to the senseless dangers that such a close minded and theocratic view of the world could have. Finally, with regards to t