Heretic's Themes Flashcards
Individual vs. Society
Although America was founded on the principle of religious freedom, in the decades before the American Revolution northern colonists struggled with a form of Puritanism that was rigid, punitive, and even paranoid. If everyday folks could suddenly be vilified as witches and heretics, the word soon got around that conformity was the only way to survive. Thus any extreme form of individualism in speech, thought, or action was regarded with suspicion and could sometimes be fatal. Puritan preachers and their minions performed the role of societal enforcers who, when they weren’t burning witches, stayed busy placing the adultery letter “A” on the clothing of those so accused and generally practicing a kind of domestic terrorism unknown in modern times until the rise of the Nazis, followed by the Soviets.
The Carrier family of Billerica is, in this story, defiant of authority, independent, and self-sufficient. When the struggling family leaves Billerica to join other relatives on a farm in Andover, Mass., thry bring their free lifestyle with themselves. Martha Carrier, strong-willed and strong-minded, has no inclination to go to church but is warned by her sister Margaret that to be absent from church would be to incur the wrath of the entire community and, most dangerously, the priest who would be alerted to any sign the devil was making inroads into the Christian folks of Andover. She assents, but her seven-foot-tall Welsh husband takes orders or directions from no one and, because of his size and physical strength, is never harassed about religious practices or beliefs.
Sarah, the narrator, thus ascribes her own independent streak to both of her parents who were strong enough to sacrifice anything for their children. Her mother, Martha, surrenders willingly to the witch hunters and “confesses” to being a witch for one reason only: to keep the homicidal defenders of the faith from taking and executing her children. As an adult, Sarah later realizes the priceless gift of love her mother’s sacrifice is and admires her even more for this act of unselfishness. In assenting to be taken away by these marauders, Martha demonstrates the power of her individualism by consciously sacrificing it for the survival of her family.
Fear/Paranoia
Societies in distress tend to produce extreme political movements. The Russian revolution was powered by the communists, who were powered by the fear and discontent of the masses. By directing this fear into the action of overthrowing the Russian imperial government, the communists gained power. Germany, falling ever deeper into economic depression in the 1930s, followed Adolf Hitler’s lead in identifying the Jews as scapegoats for German fear; seeking world domination as a form of victory over fear thus seemed like the best course for many Germans who entered World War II. The New England colonists, faced with constant threats of disease, deprivation and decapitation, invented or rather resurrected a handy scapegoat from the Dark Ages—witches. From this paranoia a kind of fascist church-state evolved in colonial America to maintain at least the illusion of control over powers far greater than witches, including the inherent evil in men’s hearts..
Although witches are identified as the source of all the problems of the Massachusetts colonists, their arrest, incarceration and execution does not seem to make much difference in overall quality of life except for those unjustly executed and those who feared the same fate. Obviously, this kind of mass paranoia knows no bounds and feeds upon itself as it begins to self-destruct. This fear-driven behavior, focused outside the self, is simply one form of denial that is dysfunctional because it does not resolve the perceived threat and allows fear to keep growing. Only legislative action of the Massachusetts state assembly began to curtail this frenzy and to quiet the preachers who instigated and profited from fear-mongering. Perhaps the judgment of history will be that this era was necessary as an objective lesson in intolerance and a warning about the dangers of any sort of authoritarianism. Kathleen Kent’s book demonstrate in granular detail the toll of this destructive social climate on the lives of ordinary citizens.
Family Bonds
Throughout the book, the reader is aware of the story unfolding within a family network. The narrator, Sarah, cares for the infant child Hannah who is a constant presence in her life, as are her brothers. When the smallpox epidemic threatens the Carrier family, all except the father go to stay with Aunt Mary and Uncle Roger in Andover. There, Sarah strengthens her bonds with her cousin Margaret, who is two years older than she. During their stay of several months, Sarah comes to feel an uneasy sense of Alienation from her nuclear family and from her home. But the family bonds are soon resurrected once the Carriers return to their farm and are reunited with their father. Although Sarah feels a bond with the Toothakers, she is later scolded by her mother for crying when her uncle dies in prison after being charged with witchcraft. Martha explains that she has no love for her brother-in-law because he was a drunk who patronized not only bars but also prostitutes, and schemed underhanded ways to inherit property from her side of the family.
When Martha and her children are arrested and imprisoned on charges of consorting with the devil, their bonds help them survive. Although Martha is in an isolation cell, and her children in another, the family manages to shout to one another and even pass bits of food back and forth. Thomas Carrier comes to see his family whenever allowed and brings them food and reading material. Although some of the children might wish for an easier life, they know and the reader knows that their real strength derives from the family unit. And Martha Carrier sets a real example of courage for the children to emulate as she faces her inquisitors and denies the charges—an act she knew would mean the death sentence. Martha has made up her mind to try and put a stop to the witch insanity, and her actions give everyone pause. It is from this example plus the steely courage of their father that the children derive strength and security. The feel-good message is that unity, cooperation, and mutual caring are much stronger than smallpox, Indians or even deranged ecclesiastical potentates.
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