Indian Slave Tituba

It is thoroughly apparent that Tituba, a native born from Barbados, was so quickly blamed for influencing the acts of supposed witchcraft, because she is constantly being scrutinized for the color of her skin. Inferior in status, as a slave, it was easy for Reverend Hale to believe Abigail when she selfishly blamed Tituba for coercing her to participate in witchcraft. In a frantic attempt to avoid punishment and escape death, Tituba spews out names: Sarah Good and Goody Osburn, of whom she used as her scapegoats. These were the names of the two people who were held at low regard, like herself and who would be just as easily blamed, due to their low social status. She was able to turn the tables, and it was her turn to point a finger on an unsuspecting

If there isn't a child yet, may his wife never bear one! I know you can do it! Everyone says you are the most awesome of witches!"pg 86 This is what the residents in Salem led to think of Tituba. But was she really a witch, or was she evil like how the Puritans viewed them? Did she use her power to harm people or to comfort people? Did her actions strike sickness or to cure them?

The first women to be accused of witchcraft in Salem were seen as different and as social outcasts: Tituba, a slave; Sarah Good, a homeless beggar; and Sarah Osborne, a sickly old woman who married her servant. These women were unpopular and it was easy to point fingers at them. Gossips and rumors were enough to accuse them. Tituba[3] was a dark skinned slave who lived in the household of the Reverend Samuel Parris. She was familiar with the West Indian Voodoo and practicing magic.

As the story of Tituba unfolds, it reveals a strong and kind hearted young woman, very different from the Tituba we meet in The Crucible. I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem unveils for the reader, Tituba's life, loves, and losses. Her long and arduous journey through life is inspired by her many female counterparts, yet also hindered by her insatiable weakness for men, who also press upon her the realities of life.

Tituba is Parris’s slave from Barbados. Tituba was with the girls when they went into the woods and danced around the fire. Abigail told her to cast a spell onto Elizabeth so she would die but before anything could happen they got caught. When accused of witchcraft she confessed so she wouldn’t be hung. She also accused other people with being with the devil and that she even saw them. Tituba told them that the devil told her that she needed to kill Parris but she always told him no that he never has done anything to hurt

Tituba was a Caribbean slave owned by the Parris family. Sarah Good was a homeless woman. Sarah Osborne was a poor elderly woman. Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good pleaded innocent. Tituba admitted, “The Devil came to me and bid me serve him.” She described seeing red cats, yellow birds, black dogs, and a black man who asked her to sign his “book”. She confessed to signing the book. All three women were put in jail. Soon, more children had started to experience similar episodes. People were tried and found guilty of witchcraft.

Tituba was a women considered to be an outcasts of the village since she has very little dignity in being a slave. These false accusations lead Tituba to be condemned to death. This unjust act is only the beginning of a series of false allegations that take control of Salem, as well as the spreading of paranoia and hysteria through the village. This finally results in the deaths of the some of the main characters, such as Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor, for carrying out acts of witchcraft.

That was a quote from Mrs Putnam. I think the fact that she has lost 7 babies makes her think it is work of the devil trying to punish the “good”. Once everyone believed it was the work of the devil, they blamed Tituba who is only low class person in the household and her being a black slave makes it easy for everyone to blame her because as she doesn’t have any power or authority she won’t react and her coming from a completely different culture to than the people in Salem makes the believe that she is affected by the witch and devil.

When Abigail accused her of witchcraft, Tituba dined all of the accusations. Unlike Abigail, Tituba did not have a plan to defend herself. She was also not able to control the girls and make them tell the truth. When Tituba was threatened to be hanged, she changed her mentality on the situation. Instead of dining what she had done, she confessed her sins. During her confession, shame affected what she revealed to the others. Tituba said that the devil had control of her, and wanted her to kill Reverend Parris. This was Tituba’s way of admitting that she had thought about killing Reverend Paris. Tituba also took the center of attention off of herself by

The decisions that Tituba made throughout her trial, contributed in a substantial magnitude to the American history that’s known nowadays. If it wasn 't for the confession of the actions that Tituba made, the unfolding of the witch trials might have had a different angle. Braslow discuses, “Tituba is perceived during the trials as a woman, as a slave, as an American Indian, and as an outsider in a Puritan society”. Being an outsider in a world where if you make one mistake, must have been terrifying for Tituba, and perhaps she felt that by confessing, she would have more opportunities to survive. She initiated an era of terror among the European society, an era of witchcraft and hostility towards women, like Tituba, that were only mostly peasant and ignorant women, without any knowledge and influence over people. Church communities, manifested hatred towards women that were merely part of an injustice act. These women did not understand what was happening, and even some were convinced of

After the doctor’s analysis, the townspeople then gathered up all of the girls with the symptoms. The collected girls accused three women: Sarah Good, an odd homeless woman who lived the streets of Salem Village, Sarah Osborne, who had married her servant and rarely attended the church meetings, and Tituba, an Indian slave from Barbados who was in service of Reverend Samuel Parris. Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne denied the accusations, while Tituba confessed, and claimed there were multiple other witches working by her side in Salem.

Tituba, the Reverend Parris's slave, is a woman who is from Barbados and practices Black Magic. When she was first seen, she seemed timidity and motherliness. She is African American and her appearance shows that she is from a lower class and she isn’t treated right. She likes witchcraft because as seen in the first scene, she was the main leading person in the group. She doesn't like Abigail Williams because she called her out and also she was putting other people's lives in danger. Tituba is the only one who accepts what she has done and the actions of Tituba in the first scene reveals that she is largely responsible for the Salem Witch Trials. When Reverend Hale was questioning Tituba about Betty, she reacted in a motherly way by saying,

Maryse Conde a Guadeloupian, historical fiction writer, wrote many novels, essays, short stories, and children’s books. She studied in Paris at the age of sixteen. In addition, she was a professor at Columbia University, UCLA, UC Berkley, University of Virginia, and the University of Nanterre. Maryse Conde wrote I, Tituba in 1986 which examined the struggles of a Caribbean slave named Tituba. It’s a historical fiction about the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. The author portrayed another perspective of how colored women like Tituba were not historically known for the witch trials. With this in mind, Tituba was born and raised in the Caribbean of Barbados where she experienced a rough childhood which she was then raised by a witch named Mama Yaya. As she grew older, she fell in love with John Indian that she was sold to become a slave. Furthermore, she was sent to the Americas to serve her owner and she was accused of being a witch. Thus, one might suggest examining the story of Tituba, the characters, and the major issues in the story.

One of the reasons that I chose to read this book was because I had prior knowledge of the Salem Witch Trials from reading The Crucible in high school. Reading The Crucible helped me when I read In the Devil’s Snare because I recognized a lot of the people’s names. In particular, I recognized the name of Titbua. Samuel Pairs’ daughter and niece accused Tituba for bewitching them. Tituba was believed to have had known people who were witches, but she denied being one. It is interesting to note that In the Devil’s Snare refers to Tituba as Reverend Pairs’s Indian Slave, when I read The Crucible and saw the movie; I always believed that Tituba was African. Norton states that “Many scholars have addressed these questions…. Every surviving piece of contemporary evidence identifies her as an Indian. Later tradition transformed her into an African or half African slave.” Since Tituba was an Indian this

In 1692 Samuel Parris Had a slave by the name Tituba, Tituba became popular with the teenage girls of Salem and they would gather with her in the kitchen while she was conducting her duties such as making meals. Since Tituba was a slave not much was known about her or her life until the Salem Witch Trials. Tituba was believed to have been a Slave from South America and came from the islands of Barbados. Tituba was believed to have been married to a John Indian a Native American. Titubas first believed victims of witchcraft were believed to have been the two young girls mentioned earlier Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams. Tituba would often tell these two young girls tales of witchcraft. Tituba would later be the first one in Salem to confess to practicing witchcraft. Thomas Parris the father of Elizabeth Parris would