Why Did Mrs. Putnam Send Her Daughter?
Mrs. Ann Putnam sent her daughter, Ruth, to Tituba to contact the spirits of her dead children.
Mrs. Putnam's Desperate Plea
Deeply afflicted by the loss of seven of her eight children shortly after their births, Mrs. Ann Putnam harbored profound grief and suspicion. She believed that a supernatural force or witchcraft was responsible for these tragic deaths. This intense sorrow and a desperate need for answers compelled her to seek unusual means of understanding.
Ruth's Mission to Tituba
To uncover the truth behind her children's untimely demises, Mrs. Putnam dispatched her only surviving child, Ruth Putnam, on a critical errand. Ruth was sent to the forest to find Tituba, Reverend Parris's enslaved woman, who was believed by some to possess the ability to communicate with the spiritual realm.
The singular purpose of this mission was to:
- Enlist Tituba's aid: Mrs. Putnam hoped Tituba could use her perceived abilities to bridge the gap between the living and the dead.
- Contact the spirits of her deceased children: The ultimate goal was to communicate with the spirits of her seven lost infants to discover the cause of their deaths. Mrs. Putnam was seeking a spiritual explanation or intervention for her repeated tragedies.
This act underscored Mrs. Putnam's immense sorrow and her conviction that the answers lay beyond the conventional, in the spiritual world.
