The Heretic s Daughter By Kathleen Kent - 1430 Words

The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent is an evocative tale which tells a fictional story about the first hangings in the Salem witch trials. The book is written through the eyes of Sarah Carrier who was a child during the time of the Salem witch trials. The story begins introducing Sarah’s family as they are traveling under the cover of night in the cold winter months to her grandmother’s house in Andover, a town near Salem. In the late 1680’s smallpox was spreading quickly and the Puritans of Billerica thought the Carrier family to be spreading the virus and forced them to leave the town. The Puritans were not wrong as one of Sarah’s brothers, Andrew, fell sick of smallpox soon after their arrival in Andover. The family was to be†¦show more content†¦For farm assistance, the Carrier family made a mistake in purchasing Mercy Lewis. Mercy was trouble from the moment she entered the house. Mercy was guilty of stealing from the family , spreading rumors of Mrs. Carrier, and attempting to start an intimate relationship with Sarah’s brother, Richard. After lying about being with child, Mercy is denied in her plea to marry Richard and subsequently kicked out of the house. This fight over Mercy’s fake child resulted in a hail storm for the Carrier family. Mercy began to spread rumors of some sort of â€Å"witchery† that must be present in the household. These accusations came at a horrible time due to the incredible success that the Carrier farm was having. Although all of their crop surpluses came from hard work, witchcraft became the more popular explanation for their success in a time of hardship. The Toothakers were quick to jump on the anti-Carrier bandwagon, thinking that the Carrier’s land truly belonged to them. Martha Carrier, Sarah’s mother, was already not favored by the church for her vocal opinions contradicting the church. When new cries of witchcraft came from young girls in the area, Martha Carrier was alerted of her impending arrest for being a witch. Martha is adamant about not pleading guilty for anything to do with witchcraft, stating that there must be someone to stand up for all of those wrongly persecuted. Before