Salem Witch :: essays research papers

ParanoiaParanoia is the underlying factor of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Samuel Parris had a great terror of Satan arming his foes to destroy both him and his church. He was obsessed with any sinfulness that he saw. Although it was not just reverend Parris that had these beliefs. It was the paranoid party, which he was a member of. The Puritans were paranoid of universe different. compliance was a large part of their life because they were all driven into the uniform religion. Originality is a natural human characteristic that was stripped of their being. They look atd that if they didnt do what society said was the right thing to do that they would be punished in the afterlife. Because of their geographical location, they could not choose what society they belonged to, whether they liked it or not. If they did turn in to leave, chances are they would die in the harsh New England wilderness. They also feared the natives of the area. This caused many another(prenominal) pe ople to grit their teeth and bear the Puritan ways. Also this was the only(prenominal) way of life these people knew. They had never been in an atmosphere that flourished in new ideas. Therefore, they never had beliefs of their own. They were limited in the choices they made. If it werent for the underlying fears of being different than the Witch Trails of Salem would have never occurred.Ironically the Puritans were victims of the in truth society that they traveled across the Atlantic to escape. The roots of evil were lighten implanted in them. The church was all that had changed, and it had changed for the worse. Bertrand Russell once said, It doesnt emergence what you believe as long as you dont believe it completly. Since the Puritans beliefs were absolute, it devestated their society. There was no room for new ideas. New ideas would directly infringe their religion. That is why anybody that was different was considered a witch and consequently killed. They died because of m ass paranoia. This paranoia is what drove chisel the young girls into their hysterical state of mind. Their society revolved around fear, a fear of god. They feared very much what god would do with them once their duration one earth was at an end. They justified the entire unknown with their beliefs of god. If they had wild luck or encounters with natural disasters, they thought god was punishing them.