Mary Collins: A Short Story

What would you do if you were accused of a crime you did not commit? Would you be angry, or would you fight it? What would you do if you were punished for proclaiming you were innocent? This was the reality of many people in Massachusetts in the late-1600s. The poem “Half-Hanged Mary”, by Margaret Atwood, is written about this situation. It tells the story of an alleged witch, Mary Webster, being hanged and left over night. The next morning, to the villager’s surprise, she was still alive. Mary continued living for another 14 years after the incident. Although, the theme seems to be about a witch surviving an execution; it is actually about an innocent person surviving an unjust assumption.

left and right to people undeserving. No one should stand down to what they believe in.

¨Dad however, wouldn’t talk about Mary Charlene...He was the one who found her body in the crib, and Mom, couldn't believe how much it shook him up…‘he was in shock or something, cradling her stiff little body in his arms... he screamed like a wounded animal’...He started having dark moods,staying out late and coming home drunk and losing jobs,¨(Walls 28).

What would you do if you were a witness to child abuse today? Would you turn your head as if it were not your business, would you intervene immediately, or would you report the abuser to the authorities? It was approximately 1869 - 1870 when a woman named Charlotte Fiehling "cringed at the sound of the child's beating. She had heard it before, but had never laid eyes the child. The little girl was no more than five or six if she was a day, judging by her size, and her poor legs were striped with the welts of a whip, her body bruised from blows. Her hair matted and infested with vermin, no doubt, and she did not appear to have had a bath of any kind for many days, if not weeks" (qtd. In Shelman 187). This little girls name was Mary

On September 8, 1692, Mary Osgood gave a confession and described her possession as devil afflicted. Osgood explained that in her melancholy state and condition, she saw an appearance of a cat at the end of her house, which she thought was a real cat. It is important to note that Mrs. Osgood stated that the cat diverted her attention to God and instead prayed to the devil. Osgood claims that the devil appeared as a black man and presented before her a book, which she laid her fingers, leaving a red spot.

Born in the south of Louisiana, and then raised for the rest of her life down here in the Bay Area. My grandma, Patricia Wright, gave me the opportunity to interview her about life and the up bringing as a black child, black teen and a black woman in her era. With my research I went through some of the sources from in class discussions,but happen to relate more with other scholarly sources. I was able to get deep and discuss how it was for her socially, economically, politically, and culturally where she lived.

In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien in the chapter “Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong” the Vietnam war changes Mary Anne from an innocent young lady into a beast. While people at at war, many changes occur to ruin a completely innocent person's state of mind, and change them into deranged human beings, because of the rough environment and crazy things that occur while people are on the battlefield. When Mary Anne first arrived in Vietnam she seemed as she was completely innocent charming lady. Mary Anne had a conventional personality, and was even described as a lady with “long white legs and blue eyes and a complexion like strawberry ice cream. Very friendly too”.

In Atwood's "Half Hanged Mary" and Miller's "The Crucible", the authors describe two different, yet similar instances of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials, everyone has heard of them. They happened in Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693. More than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were executed. Eventually, the colony admitted the trials were just a mistake. While both Atwood and Miller both seek to reveal the injustices incurred by the victims of the Salem witch trials, Miller focuses on the effects of hysteria and religious zealotry on society, while Atwood aims to commemorate the excruciating experience of a single victim.

Mary was terrified with having to

Finally I have escaped. I was critical about escaping at first but now I know that it was the right choice to make. I escaped with Mary Ingles, a fellow captive. We escaped while on an expedition to find salt away from the village. Mary says we are going home, but I have no home anymore. I was the only survivor of the raid. However, Mary is a kind person and says that I could live with her family. Poor Mary she has had even worse than me she has lost all her children to the Shawnee. I feel very fortunate that I survived my captivity at all. Some of our fellow captives were even burned alive by the indians. I am lucky that I gained their respect by running the gauntlet. Mary and I escaped because they let us go out into the woods to forage

reader is Shauna herself. The way she describes Mary as, “Her mouth open in a rictus

But now I am one.” Mary knows that since she survived the night, she won’t be hanged again. “Tough luck folks, I know the law: you can’t execute me for the same thing. How nice.” The author made her thoughts change throughout the night, letting his audience know that as the night

To begin, Mary Warren is one of the many girls that accuses several people of practicing witchcraft and aids in getting them convicted. She knows she is doing a wrong, but still she gets caught up in the excitement and thoroughly enjoys the power she discovers she has; she can turn on anyone and the court would believe her without a hint of doubt. Evidently, the weight of her lies make her weak, for she declares: “I am sick, I am sick, Mr. Proctor. Pray, Pray hurt me not. My insides are all shuddery; I am in the proceedings all

One of the most common and favorite hobbies of people these days is watching TV. So it could be really helpful to use TV shows to educate people. These shows affect people’s lives and teach them a lot. The show “Drunk History” is a great idea to teach people about past. Unfortunately history is one of those subjects that some people love it and some hates it.

“She was a king’s daughter, she was a king’s sister, she was a king’s wife, she was a queen, and by the same title a king also” # Mary Tudor was an influential women of her time period. Many in modern society know her for her particularly bad reputation as Bloody Mary, however they do not realize the contributions she made, or her influence on history . The story behind Mary’s reputation gives insight as to her true accomplishments as England’s first queen.