~The House of the Seven Gables~

The Salem witch trials left a huge impact on the world of religion in America in 1692. It all started with Abigail Williams and her cousin Betty Parris trying to cover up dancing in the woods with Tituba, the slave of Reverend Parris, Betty’s father and Abigail’s uncle. But there are also many things that many people might not know about the witch trials.

For instance, the Pyncheon family in The House of the Seven Gables were real people and were ancestors of the American novelist Thomas Pynchon. Also, the house in the story is stated to be completely fictional and not based off of any actual house in real life, but Hawthorne had a cousin who owned the actual House of Seven Gables and Hawthorne had been there many times as a child.

The Puritans who founded Salem and were involved in the Salem witch trials were actually made up of groups that formed and identified with various religion groups that had the same mindsets that they had. For instance, the Puritans would have probably been identified as Calvinists because of the Reformed theology that they adapted into their lives. They were, in short, radical believers, which is what enabled such things as the witch trials to get blown out of control and spiral outward until it had consumed the town whole.


To make a great book, one has to compile much information from many different areas. Without all of the things that happened, from the tragedies to the successes, a book is written to include them all.