Character Analysis: The Physick Book Of Deliverance Dane

In the novel The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, Katherine Howe’s use of the frame story dynamic is vital in delivering the overall substance of the novel in terms of theme, plot development, and character development. Even though Connie’s journey in the frame story is fully developed on its own, readers would be unable to see the connections being made to the past, which is mainly the goal of this novel, without the placement of the interior stories. For the definition of frame story is “a story that contains another story...” that “…explains why the interior story or stories are being told” (Murfin and Ray 190). The interior story explains to the readers the reinterpretation of the Salem Witch Trials in which Connie is piecing together in the frame story. In essence, Connie’s story is an extension of the interior story, for Connie’s present is influenced by the fact that the story she is unlocking, and is present in the interludes, is the story of her own ancestors. …show more content…
Part of the reason why Connie is the one in taking this journey of discovering Deliverance Dane, and revising the past through her research, is because she is personally connected to the interior story being that she is a descendant of Deliverance. Connie begins this journey as nothing more than a scholar doing research, but by the end, Connie is personally invested given that she is also finding out who she really is: a witch. The interior story is important in this aspect because it then becomes more than just a revision of what was believed to have happened during the Salem Witch Trials, it becomes the story of Connie’s ancestors and an explanation of how Connie as a person is going to be effected by what she is uncovering. Having the interior story allows the reader to make a connection to Deliverance similar to the one Connie is making as the frame story