New Hampshire · Chapter
II: The Pauper Witch of Grafton explained
The narrator, an elderly woman identified as a witch, disputes the legal settlement of her town residence between Warren and Wentworth.
What happens
The narrator, an elderly woman identified as a witch, disputes the legal settlement of her town residence between Warren and Wentworth. She argues that the record of Arthur Amy having been up for Hog Reeve in Warren is false because the Arthur Amy she married was only fifteen at the time and voted in Wentworth. She recounts her history with Arthur Amy, including the incident with Mallice Huse, and reflects on her life as a witch and her relationship with Arthur.
Themes in this chapter
Perception and Truth
The narrator challenges the official record of her identity and residence, emphasizing the gap between public perception and personal truth.
Isolation and Community
The narrator's status as a witch isolates her, yet she is entangled in community disputes over her legal residence.
Characters to notice
- Arthur Amy
The narrator's husband, who initially interfered in the Huse business and later embraced her witch identity.
- Mallice Huse
An old man whom the narrator allegedly rode and wore to skin and bones, leading to controversy over gnawed posts.
Key passages
“Now that they’ve got it settled whose I be, I’m going to tell them something they won’t like: They’ve got it settled wrong, and I can prove it.”
The narrator announces that the towns have incorrectly determined her legal residence, and she intends to prove them wrong.
Opening lines establishing the chapter's central conflict over identity and jurisdiction.
“The Arthur Amy I was married to couldn’t have been the one they say was up in Warren at March Meeting for the reason he wa’n’t but fifteen at the time they say.”
The narrator claims the Arthur Amy she married was only fifteen when the record says he was up for Hog Reeve, so the record must refer to a different Arthur Amy.
Key evidence in her argument against the towns' decision.
“I was a strapping girl of twenty then. The smarty someone who spoiled everything was Arthur Amy.”
At age twenty, the narrator was a strong young woman, and Arthur Amy was the one who ruined the Huse incident by pointing out the gnawed bedposts.
Reveals the beginning of her relationship with Arthur and his role in the witch narrative.