Question

“...Salem folk believed that the virgin forest was the Devil’s last preserve…” How is the forest used to personify the Devil? Why do the Puritans view the forest this way?

Answer 1

The forest, as viewed by Puritans, symbolized chaos and sinfulness and was considered the Devil's last preserve, contrasting with orderly, godly communities. Their fears were depicted in literature and were connected to the traumatic experiences and cultural changes, contributing to the Salem witch trials.

Step-by-step explanation:

The forest personifies the Devil in Puritan belief by being the embodiment of the untamed and unknown, representing chaos and sinfulness in opposition to the orderly, godly city. The Puritans viewed the forest as the Devil's last preserve, a place of wildness and moral corruption, which stood in stark contrast to their cultivated farmlands and settlements symbolizing order and divine grace.

Literature, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne's works, and the history of the Salem witch trials, illustrate the Puritans' fear that the forest and the occult were intertwined, harboring witches who consorted with the Devil to wreak havoc on society.

This outlook was also reinforced by the traumatic experiences of frontier wars and significant cultural changes, fueling the idea that the Devil was actively working against them through the wild, uncontrolled forest landscape.

Answer 2

The forest was used to personify the devil because of the darkness and mystery, which are similar characteristics they both have. The people in Salem thought the Devil was mysterious because they did not know anything about him, so they thought that staying away will keep them from being harmed. One of the characters did not go to church and for the people this meant he was associated with the devil. The author personifies using the devil with the forest and everything that is wrong because these ideas according to the puritans, are dark and bad, just like the devil.