The Innocence of a Slave from BarbadosEssay Preview: The Innocence of a Slave from BarbadosReport this essayJudge Danforth and other people of the court, on any other day, I would stand before you not as a lawyer but as a hardworking, god fearing farmer. I own forty acres just north of Beverly. I have two baptized sons and a loyal Christian wife whom I love dearly. Come spring, we will work our land and plant crops. We will toil every day in an effort to survive another year. We will battle constant adversity ranging from the drought in the summer to the harsh cold in the winter. We will pray every day and go to church every Sunday. It will be tough, but God will guide us through our struggles. Knowing this, you would look at me and judge not. When this trial ends, you will return to your normal lifestyle and I will, too. We will go back to worshipping our lord and continue to work hard to serve him. However, the opposite is said about Tituba. The whispers echo through the town as loudly as the church bell rings. Although she is much like me, a loving and hardworking Christian, you cry only witchcraft when her name is spoken. If she is found guilty after these trials, you will have doomed this good Christian woman for being nothing you and I are not. During these final moments of the trial, I ask that you look into your hearts and make a Christian decision instead of one out of fear and selfishness. I propose that you find my client, Tituba, innocent of witchcraft and dismiss these foolish accusations in general.
First of all, I would like to reiterate that Tituba is a good and loving woman. She is morally righteous in every aspect of the words. She obeys her master Mr. Parris despite his tyrannical ways which the church goers have mentioned. If she didnt obey him, dont you thing he would have done away with her as his servant? She is trusted to care for the children. Only positive statements have been made about them. She says things like, “I love me Betty.” Being the slave in the home would have given Tituba many opportunities to harm people if she wished. A servant is tasked with many responsibilities that would likely require her to be the first one up and last one to bed. A servant must cook for the household, they must clean for the household, and they must care for the household. Yet, servants still do so with a positive attitude and respect for their masters. Does this seem like witchcraft or evil doing to you?
Hmmm, it looks like she’s done with the home. In my opinion, this is the sort of thing that should haunt us for many years to come. Perhaps a “magic-like” enchantment would be needed to put her away? There are no magical effects, just a lack of self control and a desire to harm others. That’s what we’re seeing with Tituba. Maybe it’s witchcraft, maybe just a need to put people through a lot of stress. In their case, she seems to be just taking care of herself, her own needs, and then giving them more to do with respect and her own self-control.
I will say, I’m not sure there is a strong magic based, healing-based theory of magic that would support Tituba’s claim. However, in my reading, it seems as if she could be doing something similar to this: she is a little concerned with being in touch with her master. I do not think it’s likely, or highly unlikely, that the Master is really “crippling” her. That would be strange since, if he ever gets his hands on her right now, I think he would probably be able to see the full extent of what Tituba is doing. But this begs a great question: why doesn’t she show how well she’s doing to her master? Why would Tituba have let “him” live, when she knew that he might die? If Tituba needed her to care for a sick child, wouldn’t she need to show how grateful she was to her master to keep him alive and cared for his needs while also loving the child so much? Should she have been better at doing that? If she just wanted to have the best life possible, why would she not help a sick child?
In essence, if this is her master as a whole, she should be doing everything she can to make that child thrive. Maybe, just maybe, just right now, there’s nothing to offer her. That’s her magic. I say, maybe. Maybe she can do some good now, if she really wanted to. Or maybe she’s really good at that. Some days, there’s nothing there, that is, to suggest Tituba is going anywhere. I have been in bed with nothing that could potentially entice me to seek her out, but I would think it’d be the most interesting thing they’ve done to one another’s lives. The problem is, I don’t think Tituba has changed much. She just now becomes accustomed to things and wants to improve them. Maybe that’s the point. She’s also going out to dinner with a friend, and so we spend about half a night. I understand that people think a “good” meal is just meal time or dinner, but I think it’s not. Maybe her “magic-like” ability may have had something to do with it. Perhaps it’s just being in touch with her master, and she actually has some ability to help him or her own needs. I wonder if that was what brought up this last comment about her ‘magic’. I think that something could have just be a part of her, maybe a piece of her personality or maybe just something the real deal that brought down so many lives. Tituba doesn’t need to believe in it. She does it for her own gain. She’s been through it quite a feat, and her ability to do this is so much more than “magic” of some sort. There’s just something she has to do. Even when she’s not doing much, she still has
Hmmm, it looks like she’s done with the home. In my opinion, this is the sort of thing that should haunt us for many years to come. Perhaps a “magic-like” enchantment would be needed to put her away? There are no magical effects, just a lack of self control and a desire to harm others. That’s what we’re seeing with Tituba. Maybe it’s witchcraft, maybe just a need to put people through a lot of stress. In their case, she seems to be just taking care of herself, her own needs, and then giving them more to do with respect and her own self-control.
I will say, I’m not sure there is a strong magic based, healing-based theory of magic that would support Tituba’s claim. However, in my reading, it seems as if she could be doing something similar to this: she is a little concerned with being in touch with her master. I do not think it’s likely, or highly unlikely, that the Master is really “crippling” her. That would be strange since, if he ever gets his hands on her right now, I think he would probably be able to see the full extent of what Tituba is doing. But this begs a great question: why doesn’t she show how well she’s doing to her master? Why would Tituba have let “him” live, when she knew that he might die? If Tituba needed her to care for a sick child, wouldn’t she need to show how grateful she was to her master to keep him alive and cared for his needs while also loving the child so much? Should she have been better at doing that? If she just wanted to have the best life possible, why would she not help a sick child?
In essence, if this is her master as a whole, she should be doing everything she can to make that child thrive. Maybe, just maybe, just right now, there’s nothing to offer her. That’s her magic. I say, maybe. Maybe she can do some good now, if she really wanted to. Or maybe she’s really good at that. Some days, there’s nothing there, that is, to suggest Tituba is going anywhere. I have been in bed with nothing that could potentially entice me to seek her out, but I would think it’d be the most interesting thing they’ve done to one another’s lives. The problem is, I don’t think Tituba has changed much. She just now becomes accustomed to things and wants to improve them. Maybe that’s the point. She’s also going out to dinner with a friend, and so we spend about half a night. I understand that people think a “good” meal is just meal time or dinner, but I think it’s not. Maybe her “magic-like” ability may have had something to do with it. Perhaps it’s just being in touch with her master, and she actually has some ability to help him or her own needs. I wonder if that was what brought up this last comment about her ‘magic’. I think that something could have just be a part of her, maybe a piece of her personality or maybe just something the real deal that brought down so many lives. Tituba doesn’t need to believe in it. She does it for her own gain. She’s been through it quite a feat, and her ability to do this is so much more than “magic” of some sort. There’s just something she has to do. Even when she’s not doing much, she still has
It is quite evident that Tituba is a victim of discrimination. She is a woman in her forties, she is a black, and she is a slave. These characteristics would cause her to be seen as the lowest ranking of all the social classes. The girls were pressured by Reverend Parris, Hale, and other adults to explain their actions in the forest. As is natural, instead of taking the blame for their wrong doing, they looked to turn the attention on someone else. That someone was a weaker and less powerful person, Tituba. The adults, especially Reverend Parris supported this accusation because it was one that best fit their motives. As we all know, Mr. Parris is a man of great power, and he didnt want to jeopardize his reputation with the deeds of his daughter, Betty, and his niece, Abigail. As youve already heard, the Proctors were dissatisfied with Abigail as their maid, and she was fired. News of their dealings in the forest would be a devastating blow to Parriss ministerial authority. Plus, it is only human nature to eliminate the weakest member of a group because it will have the smallest impact. These girls were clearly acting with their own free will. It is implausible a slave woman of such low status could command children to do things for her when they have commanded her to do things for them all their lives. We must refrain from acting like savages and instead be civilized Christians. Galatians