46 pages • 1 hour read
Maryse CondéA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
The invisible trio of Yao, Mama Yaya, and Abena welcome Tituba. Passing the former home of Susanna Endicott, Tituba yearns again for the pleasure of John Indian and aggravates her spirit family.
Deodatus finds her and brings her to the other side of the island to a camp of maroons—island people living in hiding to escape slavery. Tituba and their leader, Christopher, become lovers. He asks her to conjure a spell to make him immortal. Abena and Mama Yaya shun her efforts, triggering Tituba to wonder, “Hadn’t I had enough of men […] of the misfortune that goes with their affections?” (146).
While searching the elements to conjure Christopher’s request, Tituba encounters an Ashanti man. Recognizing Tituba, he chastises her: “If I had been in your shoes […] I would have gone down as the demon of Salem. Whereas what name do you have” (149).
Again, Tituba’s narration creates an intermingling of fiction and non-fiction:
I had already regretted having played only a minor role in the whole affair and having had a fate that no one could remember.
By Maryse Condé