Essay on The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Submitted By flurryblurry100
Words: 905
Pages: 4

The Witch What would it be like moving to a whole new country with different beliefs, methods, and people? It sounds hard, but that’s what Kit in the “Witch of Blackbird Pond” did. This story is about a girl who is forced to move to America from the island Barbados after her grandfather died. She goes from a happy beautiful island full of unique people to a dull plain town that questions her person and beliefs. Continually, she’d make mistakes and upset the people, the only people that would understand her was Nat and Hannah. Nat is the sailor she meets in the beginning of the book, they draw close together because of a mutual care for old Hannah. Being just as different as she is, Hannah and Kit quickly meet, only problem is Hannah is believed to be a witch. Becoming friends with her, Kit realizes who Hannah truly is; however, no one else does and they accuse Kit of being a witch too. This book written by Elizabeth Speare, is a heartfelt tale that shows the complexity of the main character Kit, the enduring traits she receives as she develops, and how a love for a person can be a powerful thing. Kit was a very complex character, as she didn’t fit in with rest of the people in her town, she didn’t want to rebel yet she continued to do so, and how she was in love with a man other than her suitor yet she didn’t even know it. After moving from tropical Barbados, where everything was served to her on a silver platter, Kit had a hard time trying to fit in with her new home, even her uncle Matthew told her “This will be your home, since you have no other, but you will fit yourself to our ways and do no more to interrupt the work of this household or to turn the heads of my daughters with your vanity.” (Speare, 43) As you can see, although Kit tried to fit in, she’d make continual mistakes that she didn’t think of as mistakes. Kit was determined to obey her aunt and uncle, yet there was one thing that she just couldn’t listen to. They told her to not visit Hannah, the poor woman believed to be a witch, yet she continued to. Although she didn’t want to rebel, Kit did it continually because of her friend Hannah. One more reason Kit is complex, is William. William was the man interested in Kit from the moment he laid eyes on her, she of course wasn’t interested in him despite his wealth, but decided to be ok with it anyway, while she was courting him she fell in love with Nat without even noticing it. In the end of the book, she realizes it and ends up being with Nat happily. With these reasons and many others not mentioned, Kit is a very complex character due to the fact she doesn’t always know what she wants, she couldn’t fit in near the beginning no matter how hard she tried, and that she would rebel without meaning to. Kit had traits that developed the more she matured. When Kit first arrived to her new home, she was difficult, different, and wasn’t able to do even the simplest task. Although some of it went away, not all of it did. Unfortunately for the town, Kit was quite difficult throughout the story. She didn’t exactly try to be, but she made