Imagine a society in history that is super-constructive. Conservative apparel. Religious oppression. This time period in American history describes the New England Puritan society during the 17th century. Church, social standing, and basic respect all went hand in hand wihin these societies. Most of the settlers were Puritan colonists who had left England seeking religious tolerance, making religion the cornerstone of life. Since Puritans were expected to live a strict religious life, they believed that all sins from not going to church to stealing —should be punished severely. They also believed God would punish sinful behavior no matter the sin. In the 2016 released movie “The Witch”, this is the exact setting a young girl is faced with.
…show more content…
He rejects those around him as false Christians, and the others claim that he speaks ill of the word of God. William's family includes his wife Katherine (Kate Dickie), eldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), son Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), twins Mercy (Ellie Grainger) and Jonas (Lucas Dawson), and baby Samuel. When taken into their life, they recently moved off their plantation in England to a small farm in New England. The movie is a New England Folk Tale that focuses on the Puritan society in the aspect of witchcraft and the societies’ fear and hunt for witches. “The Witch” is a chilling horror depiction of a family unscrambling within their own fears and anxieties, leaving them vulnerable for an inescapable evil. The movie uses the horror genre to explain how the strong belief and conformity in religion can force people to be blindly fearful and skeptical of themselves and the people around them. This idea in the movie is portrayed creatively through realistic scenery, symbolism, and chilling …show more content…
In his film review, chief film critic Justin Chang persuades readers that “The Witch” is a super-natural horror movie that explores the religious oppression that occurred in the New England Puritan society using symbolism. Through his eye for detail and over-the-head symbolic features, “Writer-director Robert Eggers makes an impressive feature debut with this gripping historical horror-thriller” that creates an uneasy balance between disturbing ambiguity and full-bore supernatural horror (Chang). The movie leaves “no doubt about the dangerously oppressive hold that Christianity exerted on some dark corners of the Puritan psyche” (Chang). Chang points out the symbolism and relation to the idea of witchcraft that the movie portrays. One of the main symbolic figures used is a black goat that the twins call Black Phillip. The goat is used throughout the movie and represents the presence of Satan within the family. The “presence of Black Philip is but one of many winking horror tropes that Eggers skillfully uses in the movie” (Chang). This symbol is essential to the understanding of the fear of God and Satan because the goat is apart of the family but all along is the creature that holds the evil force cursing them. Also the scenery used is so realistic that it takes the viewers inside of a Puritan farm and
He rejects those around him as false Christians, and the others claim that he speaks ill of the word of God. William's family includes his wife Katherine (Kate Dickie), eldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), son Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), twins Mercy (Ellie Grainger) and Jonas (Lucas Dawson), and baby Samuel. When taken into their life, they recently moved off their plantation in England to a small farm in New England. The movie is a New England Folk Tale that focuses on the Puritan society in the aspect of witchcraft and the societies’ fear and hunt for witches. “The Witch” is a chilling horror depiction of a family unscrambling within their own fears and anxieties, leaving them vulnerable for an inescapable evil. The movie uses the horror genre to explain how the strong belief and conformity in religion can force people to be blindly fearful and skeptical of themselves and the people around them. This idea in the movie is portrayed creatively through realistic scenery, symbolism, and chilling …show more content…
In his film review, chief film critic Justin Chang persuades readers that “The Witch” is a super-natural horror movie that explores the religious oppression that occurred in the New England Puritan society using symbolism. Through his eye for detail and over-the-head symbolic features, “Writer-director Robert Eggers makes an impressive feature debut with this gripping historical horror-thriller” that creates an uneasy balance between disturbing ambiguity and full-bore supernatural horror (Chang). The movie leaves “no doubt about the dangerously oppressive hold that Christianity exerted on some dark corners of the Puritan psyche” (Chang). Chang points out the symbolism and relation to the idea of witchcraft that the movie portrays. One of the main symbolic figures used is a black goat that the twins call Black Phillip. The goat is used throughout the movie and represents the presence of Satan within the family. The “presence of Black Philip is but one of many winking horror tropes that Eggers skillfully uses in the movie” (Chang). This symbol is essential to the understanding of the fear of God and Satan because the goat is apart of the family but all along is the creature that holds the evil force cursing them. Also the scenery used is so realistic that it takes the viewers inside of a Puritan farm and