Is home a person? A place? A feeling? Over the course of The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Kit Tyler has to figure out that question for herself. When Kit arrives in Wethersfield, home is a far-away tropical island called Barbados. She doesn’t feel like she belongs in Connecticut, a place with two church services every Sunday and no fancy dresses in sight. Gradually, Kit comes to be a part of the Wood family and makes new friends, such as the Quaker Hannah Tupper. Inevitably she decides, though, that she must return to Barbados to truly feel at “home” – the place she lived with her grandfather. It’s not until Kit interprets her dream about Nat and the Dolphin that she realizes that home is not so much a place as the people with whom we surround ourselves.
Questions About The Home
- What does the physical structure of the Wood house look like? How is this symbolic?
- Why doesn’t Kit fit into the Wood household at first?
- What is the relationship between Kit and the Great Meadow?
- Why does Kit feel at home when she’s with Hannah?
- What does Kit’s dream mean at the end of the novel?
- Where is Kit’s true home?
Chew on This
Kit can never call one place home; she wouldn't be happy unless she could call both Barbados and Connecticut "home." Marrying Nat allows her to live in both places.
Home, for Kit, is wherever she's with people who love her.