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