“I am Mary. I am a witch. Or so some would call me. ‘Spawn of the Devil, ‘With Child,” they hiss on the street….” So begins the journal kept by 14-year-old girl in the 1650’s which lay hidden for centuries in a quilt. Mary sees her grandmother, who acted as her mother, executed on the basis of being a witch. Thus, she runs away, joining a group of pilgrims on their way to a new land. But when Mary arrives in Salem, Massachusetts, she is once again pinned down with suspicion.

“Witch Child,” a novel that reveals the controversy of the black arts and witch hunts in the 1600’s, showing the readers how suspicious and slanderous people are. Puritans are supposed to uphold the teachings of the Bible and in one such verse it quotes the Holy Book out of context and mentions “Obliterating all Spawns of Satan,” thus, they kill any human who shows suspicion of dabbling in witchcraft.

The audience, captivated by the author’s unique writing style, cannot help but read until the character’s life is spared or taken away.

This take speaks more truth than most people would think. If the audience pays close attention, they will see the characters’ morals are corrupt, to teach us a lesson. The Good Book instructs its followers to cleanse the world of black art dealers, yet isn’t a Commandment, ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill?’

Which would be more important to follow? No one seems safe; old men, women, children or upstanding citizens. Anyone could fall under these categories and without a fair hearing, trial or proof, their life could be taken away from them just because someone else says so.

Who gives people the right to take another life? Life, as some would say, is God’s greatest gift. It would be a sacrilege to annihilate humans just because we fear the unknown.