Critical Analysis of Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials

         In the book Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials by Marc Aronson, Aronson writes a detailed description of the Salem witch trials as well as things that aren't clear about this strange time in Colonial America. Anderson begins with describing the Carrier trial and how the whole thing began. He begins much like a screenplay with just the people in the room's perspectives on what is going on. For example, in the first sentence of the book: "Judge: Abigail Williams, who hurts you?", it is just the people speaking and there is no interaction by the author at all. But throughout the rest of the book, Aronson adds his own personal perspective on the matters but stays away from any obvious bias. Although that it is true that he generally stays away from bias, sometimes the quotes that he chooses speak his opinion through them for example when he quotes Cotton Mather saying that "the devil can take many shapes and forms" and then later in the book when he quotes Mather now saying "The devil cannot take place of a person that is innocent before God", he is basically showing how he knows that the accusers and their supporters were wrong by having quotes that show their mistakes, in this case it is Cotton Mather contradicting himself. Another powerful tool that Aronson uses in order to deliver almost bias-less information is his use of perspective. His general perspective keeps switching so that at first we believe that person is a witch but as soon as we hear the other person's perspective, we aren't sure what to think. He allows us to form our own opinions by using logic without telling us what is right and wrong. But sometimes the reader can catch him saying some opinionated explanations of the situation. for example on page 142 he says in a response to an accusation of Mercy Lewis , "this is obviously just a scared girl trying to get over her peers". This can be seen as just a regular interpretation of the accusation but I think that it is Aronson trying to show how ridiculous the accusations were. Finally, Aronson summarizes the entire trials and where he got the information. He next comments on many other books and stories about the Salem witch trials including the famous works of the Viking Press "The Crucible". He explains how his information is the same and different from all of these pieces and states once and for all that "The Salem witch trials will forever remain a mystery".
         I learned so much about the Salem witch trials from this book than I could have ever known had I not read it. Before I read this, the only information I knew about the trials was from visiting Salem and from "The Crucible" that Aronson proved to be inaccurate. My opinion that the people hanged were not witches is now stronger than ever now that I know pretty much the entire story of the Salem witch trials. But some questions still remain in order to have a solid conclusion about the trials. Why did the girls accuse their neighbors and relatives? Why did the judges use spectral evidence as enough to sentence someone to death? How did the trials begin in the first place. And why?