Saturday, June 19, 2010

Which one is the Witch... of Blackbird Pond?


The Witch of Blackbird Pond is set in the late 1600s, and follows the protagonist, Kat, as she moves from Barbados to the puritan town of Wethersfield, Connecticut to live with her aunt and uncle. I like this book because I liked Kat. She is a strong female in a time and place where strong females are not common. She follows her heart when she befriends Hannah, the supposed witch, and Prudence, a young girl whose parents abuse and belittle her. Although these friendships put Kat's very life in peril, she puts the well-being of those she loves ahead of herself. I don't know how accurate the witch trial aspects of the book were--in the book, Kat and Hannah are both accused of being witches and the evidence against them are other's testimonies--I passed her in the street last week and she gave me the evil eye and I got sick; my cow ate from her land and gave sour milk; etc. This is how actual witch trials were held, from what I can gather. However, the fact that Kat isn't convicted surprised me. Don't get me wrong, I was glad, but I didn't believe these people would have let her off, especially based on the "evidence." I also thought her uncle's strong support of her innocence was against his character. The whole book he is very concerned with appearances and, even more so, with obedience. Kat frequently fails in both of these regards. I didn't see his character evolve enough throughout the book to warrant such an about face in the end. However, I really like this book and was grateful, if suspicious, of the neatly wrapped up happy ending.

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