How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"But also, we couldn't abandon Abigail and Betty. They didn't have the sense to carry this matter through and not be discovered. They needed our advice. So we met with them and told them that they must outwit the elders or we would all be terribly punished. We swore fidelity to one another."
"And will keep that fidelity?"
"There is no going back now. The die is cast. We are bound together, and we will stay together and give succor to each other until the end." (8.42-44)
This little clique starts because Ann is super manipulative. But the afflicted girls end up forming a tight community, and Ann makes a pretty persuasive little leader. Did you notice how she talks about these girls as if they have a super close bond? She says they will be loyal to one another and are "bound together." We don't like this little community that Ann has created, but we've got to admit: the girl knows how to lead a clique.
Quote #5
"Is there trouble, Joseph?" Mama was never one to shilly-shally about things.
"I feel the hysteria connected with this witch business will get worse before it abates. It is fed on distrust in our community, on old quarrels between neighbors."
"Then it is well fed before it starts," Mama said. (9.10-12)
The neighbor squabbles in Salem go way back, so when it comes to breaking up the community over the witches, there's a strong foundation of, well, hate. All that talk of loving each other in the community is just that: talk. Instead, it looks like neighbors will be fighting neighbors pretty soon. What do you think of this aspect of community? Can the Salem neighbors avoid all these fights and just learn to get along?
Quote #6
I went home thinking that everyone in Salem was most likely choosing sides in the witchcraft business, the same as John Dorich. I felt sad, for the community was torn apart already by old quarrels, and now it would be even more disrupted. (9.89).
Salem is crumbling right before our eyes, folks. The way Susanna sees it, there are two sides in this community: Team Ann Putnam (a.k.a. the folks who think witches are real) and Team Ann is Crazy (a.k.a. the folks who know witches are bogus). And having these two sides isn't an easy ride for this town. Keep an eye out for how these two teams interact as the book goes on. Are there ways in which these sides don't interact at all?