Death in Salem: The Private Lives Behind The 1692 Witch Hunt

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Other critical reviews say that the narrative of each person’s story seems very fragmented (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.). The book has multiple point of views varying from the accusers, victims, and the clergy.

Overall I think that the book was interesting but dragged at certain points. While reading the stories about the victims, I believe that too much unnecessary information was added. With the added unnecessary information, it made the stories drag and become dull to read. I thought that it was interesting that everyone in the novel had some sort of connections to each other. It was good that when introducing a new subject of people, the author explained what it meant and basically an overview of the stories. I also thought that it was good that the author would ask questions that would get the reader’s thinking. For example Foulds says, “But a more important question might be this: What provoked the ‘bewitchings’ in the first place? What caused these young people to fall into hysterical fits? An answer might be found in their private lives (Foulds 254).” This shows that Foulds wants her readers to be thinking about multiple outcomes for these problems. Diane E. Foulds central thesis is that the society during the Salem witch trials always had someone to blame when any misfortunes occurred. Either their neighbor was to blame because they were a witch themselves or the individual was to blame from God punishing them of their sins. In Salem the existence of witches are equally the same as the existence of drug dealers, pedophiles, and terrorists to us.