The Puritans believed that the forest was the home of the
Devil. It contained mystery and the unknown so they presumed it to be pure
evil.
...the
Salem folk believed that the virgin forest was the Devil's last preserve, his home base
and the citadel of his final stand. (Act I, beginning
narration)
The Puritans
believed so firmly in the Devil's existence, that they believed his children (like
Tituba) could speak to the dead:
Mrs. Putnam: Tituba
knows how to speak to the dead, Mr. Parris. (Act
I)
The poppet cited regularly
in Act III that Mary Warren made for Mrs. Proctor must have been believed to be like a
voodoo doll as Abby played the part of being struck by
it.
The Puritans also believed in spectral evidence. That
is to say that ghosts or witches had the power to intervene in human lives and that can
be discerned by people. The entire play is about the children pretending that they are
being haunted by various members of the church. This pretend ends the lives of many
people.
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