Marielle A.

Ponteras 10 Galilei

The Tragedy of Joy in In Robert Eggers’ The VVitch

I. Introduction

In Robert Eggers' debut novel The Witch, a period psychological horror film released in
2015, in 17th-century New England, an exiled Puritan family establishes a farm on the outskirts
of a vast distant forest where no other family lives. Soon after, dark forces begin to torment
them.

Immediately, the family (consisting of William and his wife Katherine, daughter
Thomasin, son Caleb, fraternal twins Mercy and Jonas and the newborn baby Samuel) is in
turmoil due to their more traditional Christian beliefs, which result in them being gathered in a
court of their New England township and essentially being given the boot. Father William draws
attention to how they traveled a vast ocean to escape religious persecution only to have this
happen, dubbing them false Christians and unwound then banished the family from the town.
The family get their modest farm together, Thomasin then plays some peek-a-boo with the
child, and the infant appears to like it, but when she does it again, when she opens her eyes,
the baby is gone. The adults decides to find a family to take Thomasin as the land is indeed
cursed with no crops and bad eggs after the children overheard it Thomasin and Caleb set off
into the woods with their dog in tow and when coming to a trap did indeed catch a rabbit.
Caleb soon finds himself alone and lost in the woods searching for his sister and begins to pray
for forgiveness for his sins confident nothing will destroy his faith. Thomasin reunites with his
father while young Caleb remains missing for days but Caleb still able to come back naked in
the first rain that they've had since being here. They then heard Caleb groaning in pain as he
chants something witchy then he collapse and being unresponsive, meaning he is dead. The
family now blames Thomasin for solely based on the twin’s accusation. The youngsters in the
barn then hear weird noises and notice the old hag lady chewing on an animal, which frightens
them. Something piqued his interest in the morning: the barn had been entirely demolished,
the animals lying about slain, with Thomasin looking to be the sole survivor, and it looks that
the witch had taken the twins, most likely for additional flying fuel. He gets slammed out of
nowhere by Black Philip, who appears to really screw him up, spitting up blood. He lunges for
his axe, but succumbs to fate, and Philip slams him even harder directly into his enormously
gigantic stack of wood that crashes down on him. Thomasin was last seen in the scene, crying
and sobbing because of her father’s death so Kate then accuse her that the devil is in her so her
mother slaps her aggressively so Thomason amongst the flurry tries to say that she loves her
but she's way too far gone so Thomasin grabs a nearby knife and swipes, getting her mother in
the face a shocked. Kate rings her daughter’s neck and Thomason unleashes a few more whacks
until she stops her leading to her mother’s death. Now completely alone, she takes a seat at the
table and falls asleep until later in the night when she hears the sound of chimes outside and
goes over to Black Philip who is waiting for her. She asks it to speak to her as it did her siblings
but he doesn't respond at first and she is about to leave chastising herself for trying to talk to
the animal when it croaks saying “What does thou want? A taste of butter? How about a pretty
dress or most enticingly of all would you like to live deliciously?’’ Thomasin then put her name
in the book as a return said by Black Philip. He asks her to remove her clothes and appears in
human form behind her placing a hand on her shoulder offering that he will guide her hand. She
and Philip descend into the dark woods hearing women chanting and they come across a group
all naked naturally around a campfire. Thomasin watches curiously and they all start to levitate
into the air, she smiles and holds out her arms laughing and crying as she too is lifted up like the
others now at the height of the treetops looking genuinely happy for the first time ever and
after all of that being accused of being a witch decides to ultimately become one in the end.

II. Analysis

When a farmer's youngest son Samuel mysteriously disappears in 1630 New England,
dread and despair descend on him, his wife, and their children. Thomasin, the family's oldest
daughter who was minding the kid at the time of his abduction, is blamed. With mistrust and
distrust growing, Mercy and Jonas suspect Thomasin of witchcraft, putting the clan's faith,
loyalty, and love for one another to the test.

Thomasin, the protagonist of the story, the only member of the family who appears to
be self-aware in her "impurity," knows she's a sinner and is practically seeking God's pardon.
The rest of her family, to be quite frank, are pretty murky. Furthermore, Thomasin seems to be
the only one in her family who values the better things in life. Caleb doesn’t remember the
glass windows from their time in England but she does, and with relish. So when the human
voice of Black Phillip tempts her, it’s with specific things she wishes she could have — “the taste
of butter, a pretty dress.” Satan knows that even with everything that happens, she needs that
last little push. And so he asks her: Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? And yes. Yes she would.

Honestly I can't say I really blame her for becoming a witch because her views were so
strong that even in the absence of a single religious covenant. First of all her options at this
point were pretty slim, starved to death on the farm or starved to death trying to head back to
town, so not so great but much more importantly it's spurned on by how adamant the family's
religious beliefs were they constantly prayed to god to help them and things only got
exponentially worse. All thanks to Black Philip, really Lucifer himself, there was never any
reprieve from the pain and suffering for her family ultimately resulting in all of them dying so
doesn't sound like all that praying did much good at all so it makes sense that she would try to
find something she can believe in although it's not just about the possibility of feeling
abandoned by god but her decision even more personally is related to how her family's beliefs
marginalized and ostracized her due to their religious beliefs another reason to in the end go
towards the darkness at least it wasn't making her feel awful all the time just for existing all the
time just for existing.

The story is being revealed at third person point of view which it allows for objectivity
and offers more flexibility. This latter method allows me to immerse myself in a character's
thoughts, feelings, and experiences, providing people with a more in-depth understanding of
the character and setting. Every character and scenario may be given information, whether or
whether the individual characters are aware of it.

This film shows the devilish acts of a human and how a human behaves in a time of
crisis. It has a pinch of supernatural element in it which makes us think. The most prominent
subject to be hidden within The Witch's story is sin. This links into the film's obviously religious
tone and serves as a critique of religious doctrine in terms of how it might damage one's self-
worth.

III. Reflection

All throughout film, Thomasin was always being blamed and criticized for something she
didn’t even do by her own family which makes it harder for her to stand up for herself when
she knows it is not her fault but she still able to defend herself. This part of the novel that I
could relate with in the sense that I used to be inculpated for teaching a bad word to my
younger cousin which is I did not do it but the difference is that I didn’t get to justify myself
because it was hard to speak up.

IV. Conclusion

I would like to recommend this to everyone who is fond of mind-blowing psychological

horror films. This spooky atmospheric slow grower is a disturbing and horrifically filthy horror
picture that will linger with you long after the credits roll. It is not your typical horror film but
this creepy atmospheric slow builder is nonetheless a frightening and shockingly vile horror film
that will stick with you long after the credits role. The fear in this film does not come from jump
scares, but rather from a well-crafted and persistent sense of dread that gradually heats up as
the film progresses until it boils over in the horrifying finale. Furthermore the extreme, almost
obsessively period accurate dialogue, setting, and cinematography were all incredible.