A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials is, according to its preface, an investigation of ‘the demons in all human societies and all human souls” (Hill xvii). Initially I very much enjoyed the book, but it eventually grew dull as it seemed to go back and forth in time and in ‘points of view,’ as in who the author is referring to and when. When this book is good, it’s really good, but when it’s dull, it’s very, very dull. The book relays the “true story” of the Salem Witch Trials. Popularized with Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Hill uncovers the truths within the fiction of that play, and unveils what Miller changed, such as the ages and positions of some of the girls Hill also breaks the stereotypes people hold against
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The first of which is the above; that bad religion is as bad as atheism. In the case of the Salem Witch Trials, the villagers turned on their own instead of reaching out to aid them in their times of trouble. Whether Satan was truly involved or not is up to the reader to decide, but it is clear that the villagers were not eager to do the right thing and try and help the accused, rather than condemning them to death automatically. The second argument is that though, as stated earlier, “recent historians claim that American Puritans were not the grim-faced killjoys of popular tradition, but relished pleasures such as food, drink and conjugal sex” (Hill 4), the puritans of the time could still be really neurotic in religious matters. The third argument is that of the three prominent witch-hunts: Salem, McCarthyism and Satanic Sexual Abuse, the Salem Witch Trial is the worst. This is the weakest of the arguments. While Hill provides plenty of evidence towards the bad religion of the puritans, there is little comparison to the other two witch hunts throughout the …show more content…
Hill does, overall write a compelling history of the Salem Witch Trials that, in style, when at its best, may remind one of JK Rowling’s (Harry Potter) style, particularly in use of wry humor. When at is worst, it can be a somewhat dull summary of events, with many names and dates to keep track of. Though the library places a “Young Adult” label on the spine, I would recommend that no person under a sophomore in high school read the book, as it is heavy material to sift through and requires a well-developed attention span.
This book was quite useful in its revealing of the truth of one of American history’s most interesting events. As of this date, we have not discussed the Salem Witch Trials in class, so that element cannot be discussed. I would recommend it to anyone with a good attention span that is interested in the topic of the Salem Witch
The first of which is the above; that bad religion is as bad as atheism. In the case of the Salem Witch Trials, the villagers turned on their own instead of reaching out to aid them in their times of trouble. Whether Satan was truly involved or not is up to the reader to decide, but it is clear that the villagers were not eager to do the right thing and try and help the accused, rather than condemning them to death automatically. The second argument is that though, as stated earlier, “recent historians claim that American Puritans were not the grim-faced killjoys of popular tradition, but relished pleasures such as food, drink and conjugal sex” (Hill 4), the puritans of the time could still be really neurotic in religious matters. The third argument is that of the three prominent witch-hunts: Salem, McCarthyism and Satanic Sexual Abuse, the Salem Witch Trial is the worst. This is the weakest of the arguments. While Hill provides plenty of evidence towards the bad religion of the puritans, there is little comparison to the other two witch hunts throughout the …show more content…
Hill does, overall write a compelling history of the Salem Witch Trials that, in style, when at its best, may remind one of JK Rowling’s (Harry Potter) style, particularly in use of wry humor. When at is worst, it can be a somewhat dull summary of events, with many names and dates to keep track of. Though the library places a “Young Adult” label on the spine, I would recommend that no person under a sophomore in high school read the book, as it is heavy material to sift through and requires a well-developed attention span.
This book was quite useful in its revealing of the truth of one of American history’s most interesting events. As of this date, we have not discussed the Salem Witch Trials in class, so that element cannot be discussed. I would recommend it to anyone with a good attention span that is interested in the topic of the Salem Witch