Crush on the Teacher

An Eventful Friday

Crush on the Teacher

Chapter 37

An Eventful Friday

Adam

"Today we'll be discussing the Salem Witch Trials and The Crucible. How many of you have heard about them?" I ask my classroom. Three people raise their hands. Sauli, a cheerleader, and a bookworm in the back. "Open your textbook to page 457." They all take their time flipping to the page. Except Hannah. She's sleeping on her desk with no textbook. I grab one from the shelve and drop it by her head. She sits up and rubs her eyes. "Page 457, Hannah." She holds her head and flips to the right page. "Sauli, what do you know?"

"The story of the Crucible. It was based off of the Salem Witch Trials."

"Why don't you summarize it up for those who don't know?"

He clears his throat. "Well, It starts off in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. A priest named Parris has a daughter and a niece named Betty and Abigail under his roof and one night they were dancing in the forest with their slave. Over the next few days, Betty has fallen ill and people are being accused of Witchcraft in Salem. Parris knows, but isn't willing to confess to it. A Witchcraft expert named Hale comes to figure out who's working with the devil. And back then, everything was black and white. If you weren't a Christian, you were working for the devil so it was a really bad thing." 

I nod. "It wasn't like it is today with the freedom or religion thing in our constitution," I say.

"Exactly. Anyways, if you tried to lie about practicing witchcraft, you were hanged. The people who were questioned named off people they don't like to take the blame away from them and a woman Abigail didn't like was mentioned. Elizabeth Proctor Earlier she had had an affair with John Proctor, Elizabeth's husband and blamed Elizabeth to get her out of the pictures so John would love her and it worked because Hale questioned them and Elizabeth was thrown in jail. John tried to get her free with the help of the maid or servant Mary Warren, but she broke and accused him of Witchcraft and he was arrested and hanged, but Elizabeth was freed. Abigail skipped town after stealing some of her uncle's money and never looked back. The town was pretty much empty because so many people were hanged for false accusations. And that's the end of that," Sauli finishes and takes a deep breath.

"Thank you."

"Can I can go fill up my water bottle?" Sauli whispers, his voice hoarse.

"Of course. That was a lot of explaining. Take your planner. I hope you guys were listening because you're taking a test over this and it will be on your final exam. Broc, read the side paragraph about puritans in the 1600s. Then we're going to watch a video about the Salem Witch Trials."

Sauli grabs his large, blue water bottle and leaves the room with his planner full of hall passes. I clear my throat and stare at the page Broc is going to be reading.

"It says the puritans were a group of English protestants who wanted to purify the churches in England from all Roman Catholic influences and practices. Life wasn't necessarily easy as a Puritan. A lot of people farmed back then, but not all families who farmed were family to have African American slaves like Reverend Parris in The Crucible. Because the puritans and Church of England were extremely religious, they saw everyone was only right and wrong. If one thing isn't of God, it must be of the devil and those on Satan's side must be punished," he says.

"Thank you," I say. "Push your books to the side or leave them. I don't really care. You're going to watch a video about the trials. It's a ten minute video and it talks about the book we're going to read. It's been mentioned twice. THe Crucible. It's your choice if you want pay attention or not, but I highly suggest you do. A lot of you are failing this class."