My Main Ideas and Points

         Often with historical events, it is hard to know the exact facts, especially when they happened over two centuries ago. However, in my opinion, it is possible that authors are aware of true facts and simply choose to overlook them in favor of fiction that fits their concepts better. To illustrate and prove this concept, I chose two well known pieces on the Salem Witch Trials: "The Crucible," by Arthur Miller, and "Wicked Girls," b Stephanie Hemphill.

My main points/ questions are:

~How do these two novels deviate from the true story, most accurately told by Roach's chronicle of the trials?
~Why do these two novels differ from the true story?
~ How are these two novels different from each other?
~For what purpose did these authors write their pieces?
~How qualified is Roach to write this non-fiction work?
~How does this connect to reading historical fiction novels?

Other Sources

      As I mentioned previously, I have some outside information that I learned through various history classes and general reading through the years. I know that the trials weren't contained to Salem, that there is a questionable theory about a harvest that resulted in an altered mental state of the New Englanders, that the "afflicted"'s conditions could have been a condition caused by stress and/ or fear, and more. This outside knowledge will surely factor into my opinion of the trials in general and also help me draw conclusions from other sources.

      The second non-book source is Arthur Miller's "The Crucible." This is the source that I am comparing to both "Wicked Girls" by Hemphill and the true story of what happened during the witch trials, found in Roach's chronicle. This play is based on a ridiculous notion of the trials that most people with knowledge on the topic could, and should, dismiss with regards to fact. As stated earlier, I have previous knowledge on the trials. I know that Abigail was a young girl, no more than 12, and I also know that even at that time, 12 year old girls did not have affairs with older, married men, especially not in Puritan New England. So since it is fairly straightforward to compare(or, more accurately, contrast) fact and fiction, the weight falls on comparing the two works of fiction and finding how the stories contrast and then, using facts, conclude why the authors did what they did.

       The next source is from a book on the Trials, an excerpt concerning John Proctor: http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/blog/index.php/2011/08/john-proctor/. The excerpt mentions how Arthur Miller changes Abigail's age and invents a non-existent relationship between them in order to write the play he wanted to. A play which, by the way, was actually a way to get out a play with subtle hints to communism without being caught by McCarthy and his red scare. Miller only used the Salem Witch Trials as means to an end. He did not intend to construct an accurate representation, nor expand upon the general public's view. This is all detailed in an edition of the New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1996/10/21/1996_10_21_158_TNY_CARDS_000373902

Second Book Summary: "The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege"

                 There is no greater treasure trove of knowledge about the Salem Witch Trials available to the general public than Roach's chronicle. This author spent 10 years in libraries, searching old journals, letters, and more, looking for bits of information to collect. Her book encompasses not only Salem Village and Salem Town, but also Ipswich, and other witch trial locations that are often passed over because of mainstream belief that the trials were limited to one area. The book includes a list of all the "afflicted," all the condemned, and all known residents of the towns where witch trials were held in addition to the day by day account of occurrings in each village. Roach also keeps an open mind about what really happened in Salem in the 1690's. She neither accuses the afflicted of acting for their own purposes nor does she write off the hysteria to a psychological condition. This integrity and unbiased view concerning the trials is refreshing in a subject that is often twisted by personal opinion and mainstream myths. There is no greater source of information concerning the trials. Thus, it is the best book the compare to "The Crucible" and "Wicked Girls."