46 pages • 1 hour read
I, Tituba: Black Witch of Salem
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Themes
History Versus Fiction
While Condé attests that Tituba is not a historical novel but instead a mock-epic tale and parody, the declaration of its artificiality is what affirms its authenticity. As a narrative reconstruction of the Salem witch trials giving voice to the black, female slave who was denied her existence, it brings attention to how historical records are a verification of the power structure of white, patriarchal society. It also underscores the biases of colonial historians, revealing the untruths of their non-fiction.
The very impetus behind the rewriting of Tituba to reinsert her presence in history raises the question of the blurry line between what we call history and what we call literature. The structure of the novel itself attests to such a blurring, with insertions not only of historical records, but of pages and sections in which the author speaks of the story of the creation of Tituba as part of the tale itself.
Discrimination and Violence Against Women
The novel places the reader in the midst of the African Diaspora. It is impossible to read a story about 17th-century America in which slavery and racism do not take place. However, the contrast between male and female experiences of slavery and racism reveal as much difference as do comparisons between white female and black female experiences of the time. Throughout the text are instances of white women suffering abuse and oppression and black men who can deter some of the dangers of white racist attitudes. These insertions are deliberate, as Condé contends that Tituba was forgotten more so because she was a woman than because she was black.
The Missing Pieces of Black History as Indictment of Ongoing Racism
Condé inserts an Afterword into the American publication of the novel in which she states: “Writing Tituba was an opportunity to express my feelings about present-day America […] in terms of narrow-mindedness, hypocrisy, and racism, little has changed since the days of the Puritans […] Every Black person in living in America will tell you that racism still exists” (203). Tituba is self-proclaimed as parody and mock-epic fiction. The court documents from the Salem witch trials hold their factual status—regardless of any omissions or inconsistencies. In pointing out how the fictional recreation of the condition of a black slave is more authentic than what currently exists on file, Tituba is a call to action. The failure to write the wrongs of the history of people of color is in some ways indicative of a failure to recognize the need to right the wrongs on a societal level.
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