Was Betty Parris really bewitched? The answer is one of the many hidden in the mystery of Salem. .
Many theorists believe all the hysteria might have begun for a number of reasons. One of which is the wheat rye that grew in the town. This wheat rye is sometimes infected with ergot fungus, when ingested it cause hallucinations and seizures (Dickinson, 1974). Another theory is just the mere temperament of children. It is known that children are unreliable sources of memory, for instance it is difficult for a child to be an eye witness because their memories are so malleable that it is possible to plant ideas and memories (Asirvatham, 2002). Therefore in the Salem cases the young girls could have easily been persuaded and eventually believe they were being bewitched. Once their vivid stories began, their lies grew bigger and it would be unmanageable to change their stories. This is where the tornado of lies, death, and betrayal really came forth. .
Since the Puritans were people who were not too far away from the medieval era, the Devil played a huge part of their lives (Asirvatham, 2002). They were horrified by the thoughts of his presence. So, when the word of witchcraft, the craft of the devil, began to circulate it was chaos. A panic-stricken witch hunt took place in Salem. Disbelieving numbers of accused people surfaced ranging from children to the elderly. Once accused, the person was thrown into an unbearable jail cell. These jail cells alone were enough to drive a person into sanity. In which it did so in the case of four year old Dorcas Good. Dorcas was the daughter of Sarah Good, one of the accused. Young Dorcas was chained to the rock jail wall for four months, for fear her specter might harm the town. It is reported that Dorcas would rock back and forth in her jail cell and not speak. She was present for the birth of her little sister in the jail; next her tiny sister was chained to the wall also and eventually died two weeks later.
