Tituba developed a strong relationship with Betsy who she takes for various activities including walks to the wharf with Abigail in their trail.

One afternoon on their way back from Long Wharf, they witnessed a large crowd in the street near the courthouse. An old woman was standing on a platform with a rope around her neck to be hanged (pp. 48 – 2). Just as Tituba got closer a plank was removed and the old woman was hung to her death.

Upon seeing this happen, Tituba got a horrible shock, a situation she did not expect to relive again. The hanging of the old lady represented her own mother who was also hanged but at a younger age. In Tituba’s eyes, she could only see her mother hanging and not an old lady. I felt sorrow for her having to witness and relive something like this again (pg. 49). This was hurtful given that she is now in a different country where she may spend her last days and had to experience this situation soon after arriving.

While reading I, Tituba Black Witch of Salem, I come across something very significant in this novel. The one scene I found very important is Tituba’s new master, Samuel Parris who poured a drip of frigid water on her forehead while the other sailors insulted her. I feel greatly surprise on this because Tituba might sick from the freezing water on her forehead and the chilly wind. Also, another significance in this scene is Samuel Parris’ wife, Elizabeth who showed compassion to Tituba which similar to Jennifer, Darnell’s wife who also cared for Tituba’s Abena. It is ironic because both mistresses were afraid of their husbands. For example, Samuel Parris express, “Elizabeth, are you mad? Letting this Negress sit next to you. Get out, Tituba, and quick.” This shows how Samuel Parris had a notable dislike for his wife because she had been very friendly to a slave like Tituba. Another ironic scene is Tituba encountered Betsy Parris and Abigail Williams for the first time. Tituba’s relationship with the two girls would foreshadowed the events in Salem.

A significant part of the reading was on page 42 where she was telling about how she would tell stories of anancy the spider, soukougnans and the hag who rides along on her three legged horse. It reminded so much of the stories my mom and aunts used to tell me all throughout my child hood but it isn’t soukougnans, it’s soukouyant and instead of a hag on a three legged horse it’s a woman with legs of a horse called jabless. My aunts would often tell me of the stories where they have seen a soukouyant and actually seeing spirits. Another past that stood out to me was Samuel Paris character. It puzzled me that he, who is a minister and a strong believer in the Christian faith, struck his wife. As a minister you’re expected to be slow to anger and humble but he showed hisself to be as low and ruthless as any other person. Even when tituba was putting the girls to bed and the niece asked her is she not gonna say her prayers or her uncle will whip Betsy. It showed that they feared him as if he was the devil himself.

What quickly stood out to me was the relationship that seemed to build between Elizabeth and Tituba. It resembles that off the one Tituba’s mother had with Jennifer were they are both afraid of the master/husband Samuel. Elizabeth shows her distaste for her husband by sarcastically telling Tituba that she must be fortunate to believe a husband can be a good companion. Clearly she doesn’t believe a man can please a woman or actually love her. Later on when Samuel strikes Tituba for refusing to confess out loud Elizabeth speaks up trying to defend Tituba and tells Samuel he has no right to be doing that and she ends up getting striked as well. At this moment Tituba declares that they are both bonded together by this blood. The children seem to bond well with Tituba as well not telling Samuel the stories Tituba says too them. A point I found somewhat funny/ironic was when Elizabeth told Tituba that women are sins in this world and Tituba responds by saying women aren’t, so its like the white woman doesn’t value her place and gender in this world but the slave does. I wonder if Tituba will be comfortable enough with Elizabeth to tell her about the baby someday.

A significant moment that stood up to me was located in chapter 7 page 49. There was a moment in which an old woman got lynched for being a witch. When Tituba witnessed the old woman getting lynched it caused her to have a flashback. The flashback was basically her mother getting lynched by Darnell Davis. Tituba felt that her life began all over again after she witnessed the old lady getting hanged. Tituba questions herself what kind of world she lives in that had turned her into a slave. It appears to me that African Americans who had access to knowledge. They would be considered as a witch and would face severe consequences. Knowing that African Americans had to be kept stupid just gets me ticked off. White slave owners believed that if African Americans had access to knowledge either will overthrow them and become the dominant ones. It’s quite pathetic of them for thinking this way. I aways question myself why kill a innocent human being for having knowledgeable skills.

As I continued to read Tituba’s story, it is becoming quite lucid how imperative the development of relationships are to her story.  As we see the contention develop between her and Susanna, it ultimately leads to her and John being sold to Samuel Parris.  We soon find out that he is a malicious man, who preaches the word of God, however follows the complete opposite, but we are more importantly introduced to his wife and daughter; who play a key role in developing Tituba as a character and further enhancing her story. On Tituba’s voyage to America we see the contrasting ideals of Elizabeth Parris’ and herself, with Parris’ personality coinciding with that of  receptiveness and credence, whereas Tituba’s is more so of sensuality and ecstasy.  Though their viewpoints are so divergent, I found it very engrossing how easily it was for them to still develop a close bond, and I attribute this mostly to Parris’ susceptibility as a human being.  This goes for her daughter Betsey as well, who like her mother, shares this same sense of susceptibility.  Now on the other hand, Tituba doesn’t share this same closeness with their niece, Abigail.  Instead of being as open and trusting as her cousin and Aunt, she has a much more domineering attitude, only trusting what Tituba actually can provide evidence for.  This sharp shift in personalities between Parris’ family distinctly stood out amidst the duration of my reading, because Conde used it augment, not detract from Tituba’s hardships (such as with witchcraft) and sense of sexual desire.  I am sure that these interactions will prove to be even more beneficial during the remaining course of the novel.

The most important section in these few chapters is the conception and abortion of Tituba’s child. The reader is left thinking whether this was the right choice. It is questionable whether raising the child in terrible conditions where Elizabeth became so ill to the point of near death or to force a miscarriage to prevent this was morally correct. Also, the atmosphere in the Boston is the complete opposite between Barbados; in comparison, Tituba’s home was bright and livable in Barbados and in Boston it is dark and unlivable.

Additionally, another important scene to note is when Tituba, Betsey, and Abigail go for a walk and witness a hanging. Abigail tells Tituba the woman was being executed for being a witch. This scene foreshadows Tituba’s inevitable death in the near future.

The significant moment that I found in these chapters was when Tituba, Betsey and Abigail were coming from the Wharf and saw a gathering of people surrounding someone that was about to be hanged. It caused Tituba to remember her mother that she had lost at a tender age by the same manner of execution. The same way how the people had gathered around and watched as Goody Glover died was the same memory in which she remembers her mother Abena’s death so many years ago. The fact that she cried so much at the sight I believe wasn’t so much that she felt sorry for her, I believe she cried bitterly because she remembered the pain that she went through and the horror that she had to witness at such a young age. I believe that this moment was significant because when Abigail told Tituba about the act that Goody Glover had done and that her punishment was befitting because she was a witch, it was the fist time that Tituba got to see the reality and the serious punishment that would be imposed on witches when they were exposed. She did not think that she was a witch though she had to keep most of what she did a secret because she would have fallen to the same fate, because her master and everyone in that community seem like overly religious saints that would not approve of her practices.