Wednesday, December 20, 2017

What is the reason for the complaints against Rebecca Nurse?

Thomas Putnam and his wife, Ann, are the two primary characters who make complaints about Rebecca Nurse. Rebecca Nurse is a righteous, beloved elderly woman whose reputation as a morally upright Christian precedes her. Despite her flawless reputation, the Putnams resent Rebecca and her husband for several reasons. Miller writes that Francis Nurse had fought a land war against Thomas Putnam that lasted for two days. In addition to their land feud, the Nurse family was part of the faction that prevented Thomas Putnam's man, James Bayley, from being elected as Salem's minister. The Nurse family also allied themselves with other neighboring farms to break away from Salem and form Topsfield, which was a new independent entity that old Salemites like Putnam resented.
Mrs. Putnam also resents the fact that Rebecca Nurse had eleven children and twenty-six grandchildren, while none of her children except Ruth were able to survive infancy. Ann Putnam reveals that she resents Rebecca Nurse by saying,

You think it God’s work you should never lose a child, nor grand-child either, and I bury all but one? There are wheels within wheels in this village, and fires within fires!

Overall, the wealthy Putnam family view the Nurse family as their rivals and despise them for their success and spotless reputation. By getting rid of Rebecca and falsely accusing her of witchcraft, the Putnams hope to be the last remaining wealthy family with power in Salem.


Rebecca Nurse is primarily complained about by Ann Putnam. Ann had a few reasons as to why she would want to level complaints against the well-known and respected Rebecca Nurse. Primarily, Ann's complaints against Rebecca stem from her jealousy of Rebecca's ability to have a large family. Rebecca freely admits that she has 11 children and 26 grandchildren. In stark contrast, Ann Putnam has had seven children die in childbirth. Ann Putnam cannot simply fathom how God could richly reward one person with a large family and severely punish another by killing the majority of her children before they've really had a chance to live. Furthermore, the Putnams view the Nurse family as rivals because they are well-known and one of the oldest families in the town and therefore hold a lot of the power. By removing the Nurse family from the picture, the Putnam's would be one of the oldest families in the town, thereby increasing their power and say.

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