Symbol: Fences
In their overview of the changes happening in the Village in the period before the Trials, the authors explain, "fences were going up all over Salem Village in the 1680s, literally as well as figuratively" (58). The neighbors are staking their claim to their land as well as to their allies; they are demarcating the borders of their homes and the borders of their affiliations and sympathies.
Symbol: Substitutes
A key premise in the narrative is the idea that many of those who were accused, tried, convicted, and executed as witches were actually serving as symbolic substitutes for those members of the community too powerful and dangerous to actually accuse. This includes Rebecca Nurse as a symbolic stand-in for Mary Veren and John Willard for Joseph Putnam.
Symbol: Firewood
The Villagers opposed to Samuel Parris refuse to pay his salary, and also refuse to supply his firewood. The latter sounds petty, but it's actually quite important literally and symbolically: "this indirect form of political action became even bolder: Parris's firewood supply, which the Villagers were obligated to maintain, dwindled to the vanishing point" (66). Parris is being denied basic provisions because the anti-Parris inhabitants do not think he should be in the position of minister, and that empty pile is a constant reminder of the tenuousness of Parris's hold on that position.
Symbol: Ipswich Road
The authors explain that the Ipswich road is not just a literal road that divides the Town from the Village, but a road that symbolizes something far more consequential. The authors note, "The Road stood as a perpetual affront to those who felt the integrity of the Village to be menaced from just this quarter" (100). The Road led to commerce, materialism, self-interest, and modernity; it led to remote forces trying to take away the things that many Villagers held dear.
Symbol: Taverns and Inns
Like the Road, taverns and inns are not simply physical sites—they are embodiments of something more complicated. In this case, taverns and inns represent a "threat to social stability" (101). They are places filled with outsiders and itinerants, places to share passions, news, rumors, and fears. For the Villagers, these places were to be wary of, as they were not orderly or promoting tradition and stability.
