I hesitate to use the word witchcraft when describing Tituba’s powers in I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Conde because she herself hesitates to label them so. For Tituba, the word witchcraft is darkened by the negative stereotypes and images placed upon it by not only the white Puritanical community she enslaves herself in, but also by the black Barbadian community she finds her home in. Tituba defines her powers as a source of good, a position she inherits from the woman who raised her, and a position the novel hesitates to applaud. Her definition of magic derives from Mama Yaya, her caretaker and teacher. Tituba is raised in a bubble by Mama Yaya, as she is the only influence on Tituba during a majority of her childhood.
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… Isn’t the ability to communicate with the invisible world, to keep constant links with the dead, to care for others and heal, a superior gift of nature that inspires respect, admiration, and gratitude? Consequently, shouldn’t the witch … be cherished and revered rather than feared (Conde, p.17)?”
Here it is made clear that Tituba and Mama Yaya are the exception to the rule. Had Tituba not escaped the system during her youth, she most likely would have been raised to believe that people like Mama Yaya exist to spread harm and evil, not to cure and cultivate as they actually do. The book, while it admires Tituba’s drive to keep the meaning of witchcraft pure, it also seems to find her drive naive. It is implied throughout the book that Tituba’s optimistic look at witchcraft helps condemn her. “And yet they needed me to season the insipid gruel of their lives. So instead of asking me, they ordered me: ‘Tituba, sing us a song!’ ‘Tituba, tell us a story! No, we don’t want that one. Tell us the one about the people in league with the devil (Conde, p.61).’” Despite being aware of the Puritan feelings towards witchcraft, and despite her hesitant feelings towards Abigail, Tituba continues to tell them stories, not only of her own witchcraft, but of the “witchcraft” of other women in the village of Salem. Her security in the purity of witchcraft stokes the flames of the girl’s eventual hysteria, and
… Isn’t the ability to communicate with the invisible world, to keep constant links with the dead, to care for others and heal, a superior gift of nature that inspires respect, admiration, and gratitude? Consequently, shouldn’t the witch … be cherished and revered rather than feared (Conde, p.17)?”
Here it is made clear that Tituba and Mama Yaya are the exception to the rule. Had Tituba not escaped the system during her youth, she most likely would have been raised to believe that people like Mama Yaya exist to spread harm and evil, not to cure and cultivate as they actually do. The book, while it admires Tituba’s drive to keep the meaning of witchcraft pure, it also seems to find her drive naive. It is implied throughout the book that Tituba’s optimistic look at witchcraft helps condemn her. “And yet they needed me to season the insipid gruel of their lives. So instead of asking me, they ordered me: ‘Tituba, sing us a song!’ ‘Tituba, tell us a story! No, we don’t want that one. Tell us the one about the people in league with the devil (Conde, p.61).’” Despite being aware of the Puritan feelings towards witchcraft, and despite her hesitant feelings towards Abigail, Tituba continues to tell them stories, not only of her own witchcraft, but of the “witchcraft” of other women in the village of Salem. Her security in the purity of witchcraft stokes the flames of the girl’s eventual hysteria, and