“A Look At the Colonial World Through the Eyes of….”

I am Elizabeth Parris, but if you knew me you would call me Betty. I am nine years old, and I live in Salem, Massachusetts, with my family. My father is the minister in Salem, and we are Puritans. I live with my cousin, two sisters, and two brothers. We have two slaves called Tituba and Indian John. I don’t know much about our slaves, but Tituba knows magic. Sometimes she teaches me, my cousin Abigail and Abigail’s friends. My family is from England, but we were pushed out a long time ago by King James, because we are Puritan. My great grandfather came to Salem on the first boat in 1630. He was persecuted and ridiculed back in England, for being pious, hardworking and conservative. When my father tells me that story he always gets upset. Sometimes he will even yell at the sky. We are really religious, we attend church every day and we pray all the time. Because of our religion, my sisters and I have to wear long skirts, and long sleeves because we are extremely conservative. My hair is always covered when I leave the house. My best friend .is Abigail, but I’m not sure if that counts because she is my cousin. We mostly spend our days sewing, cleaning, gardening, and cooking. I hate sewing, but I love cooking, because when we cook, we sit around the fire with Tituba. Tituba tells us stories about Barbados. Some of our friends don’t believe them, but I do. She tells us about the Devil, and evil monsters, and Hell. She shows us magic and spells that she can do. Abigail, our friend Ann Putnam, and I have tried to learn them, but we can’t do it like she can. My father gets mad at Tituba a lot. He rages and prays to God when she messes something up. He is a very emotional person. I guess that’s why he was hired to be the priest here. Most days I don’t have much free time. Our religion makes sure that we don’t have time to be idle, and my mother keeps us on a tight schedule of work and prayers. When I do have free time, I am either learning my lessons (both religious, and school), playing with my dolls and Abigail or Ann or listening to Tituba’s tales.