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Chapter 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Puritan Hypocrisy
Love, Values, and Attraction
Difference, Prejudice, and Discrimination
Home and Belonging
Sexism
Summary
Analysis
Kit feels glummer the further they walk. Wethersfield is more of a settlement than a town. At last, they reach Uncle Matthew’s house, which Kit is relieved to see is large and sturdy. Captain Eaton knocks on the door, and a gray-haired woman answers.
Wethersfield continues to disappoint Kit because it looks less established and wealthy than Barbados. Her idea of home is Barbados, so with every discovery of how different Wethersfield is from her homeland, Kit feels increasingly uncomfortable. She is relieved to see her Uncle Matthew’s house because it looks closer to her idea of what a house should be: spacious and durable.
Themes
The gray-haired woman, whom Kit assumes is a servant, catches sight of Kit and calls out, “Margaret!” Suddenly realizing that the woman is her Aunt Rachel, Kit tells her that she is Kit Tyler, Margaret’s daughter. The woman is thrilled.
Kit at last gets her first welcome: her Aunt Rachel is delighted to meet her. Her happiness at Kit’s arrival is a stark contrast to how the other Puritans have treated Kit so far, which perhaps suggests that Rachel isn’t as staunch in her beliefs.
Themes
Captain Eaton, Nat, and the other sailors leave them once they bring Kit’s luggage into the house—Kit’s aunt, Rachel, is shocked to see how much luggage Kit brought. Right before Nat leaves, he and Kit make eye contact, and she senses that he regrets something. Before he leaves, he jokingly reminds her that “[o]nly the guilty ones stay afloat.”
Rachel’s shock at Kit’s luggage implies that the Puritans live an austere lifestyle—they don’t have many belongings, particularly luxuries. Meanwhile, when Nat leaves, he and Kit make eye-contact, which subtly hints at romantic tension between the two. But Nat doesn’t express romantic feelings—instead, he reminds Kit that “the guilty ones stay afloat,” which calls back to the idea that she shouldn’t try to swim when living with the Puritans, lest they accuse her of witchcraft. His comment has an even greater significance: it is a reminder that she shouldn’t rebel against the Puritan way of life, as the Puritans might persecute her and find her “guilty” of wrongdoing according to their beliefs.
Themes
Rachel brings Kit into a big, bright kitchen where she excitedly introduces Kit to her Uncle Matthew—a stern and unwelcoming man—and her two cousins, Judith and Mercy. Judith is beautiful, exactly what Kit imagined Rachel would look like. Mercy has kind, clear eyes and uses crutches.
Matthew’s reaction to Kit is particularly unwelcoming in contrast to Rachel’s warmth. This is reminiscent of how the Puritans aboard the Dolphin received Kit. But although Matthew (like the Cruffs) is unwelcoming, Mercy (like John) appears to be welcoming and kind and accepting of strangers.
Themes
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Rachel invites Kit to settle into having breakfast. When Kit takes off her cloak, Judith gasps at the extravagant dress that Kit is wearing. Kit glances around at her relatives and realizes that they are all wearing plain, gray clothes. When Judith admires Kit’s glove, Kit cheerfully tells her that she can have a pair—Kit has many more in her trunk. Judith frowns.
Judith appears jealous of Kit’s lavish clothing, which reveals another cultural difference: Kit’s Puritan relatives dress more plainly than she does. Kit eagerly offers to share her possessions, but Judith doesn’t like this, perhaps because she feels like Kit is showing off or suggesting that the Wood family needs charity.
Themes
At Rachel’s prompting, Kit tells her relatives that her grandfather died, and that she came to New England alone. Rachel tearfully exclaims that Kit looks just like her sister; she was heartbroken when Margaret moved to Barbados, so far away from England. Kit silently muses that Rachel moved even further—she came to America for Matthew Wood, whom Kit finds quite frightening.
Kit doesn’t understand why Rachel moved so far for Matthew. Because Kit’s grandfather described Rachel as a joyful woman, it doesn’t make sense to Kit that she would marry such a stern man like Matthew. At first glance, the two don’t seem to have much in common.
Themes
Matthew, who has been scowling the whole time, gets up from the table and announces that he will be working in the meadow for the rest of the day. On his way out the door, he notices all of Kit’s trunks and coldly asks her why she brought seven trunks for a mere visit. Realizing that she must tell the truth, Kit anxiously announces that she isn’t just visiting—she plans to stay. Rachel gasps as Matthew demands to know why she hadn’t written to them first.
Matthew shares Rachel’s shock at Kit’s many possessions. He is cold to Kit about it, which suggests that he assumes that a materialistic life is sinful.
Themes
Kit tells them the whole story: before his death, Kit’s grandfather was unwell and unable to manage the plantation. The overseer sold off an entire crop and vanished, leaving Kit’s grandfather in shock. After he died, Kit learned that he had many debts. In order to pay them, she sold the land, the house, the furniture, and the people her grandfather enslaved. Pitying herself, Kit mentions that she even “had to sell” her own enslaved handmaid. When a ship was scheduled to go to Connecticut, Kit knew that it would be her only chance to find family. She departed immediately, with no time to send Rachel and Matthew a letter in advance.
Because women at this time (the 17th century) had very few opportunities to work, they relied on the men in their lives to support them. Prior to her grandfather’s death, Kit relied on him for financial support. Therefore, when he dies, her stability is jeopardized, especially when she discovers that her grandfather had many debts. She has no choice but to find someone else to support her, which is why she’s come to stay with the Woods. However, Kit’s racist beliefs and participation in slavery arguably make her a less sympathetic character. She pays for her passage to Connecticut by selling the people her grandfather enslaved, even prioritizing her own feelings of loss over the enslaved people’s humanity.
Themes
Rachel is sympathetic toward Kit and reminds Matthew that they are Kit’s last remaining relatives. Matthew is less empathetic, bluntly asking whether Kit’s grandfather was a Royalist to King James. Kit admits that he was. Matthew doesn’t respond, instead turning away to bring Kit’s trunks into the kitchen, remarking that the town will surely gossip about such extravagance.
Rachel knows that Kit, as a young woman in New England in the 17th century, has no other options for finding a stable life. So, she urges her husband to let Kit stay. Matthew, however, is much less sympathetic, which again shows how Rachel and Matthew have very different values. While Rachel believes they should welcome their niece, who needs help, Matthew is unfriendly and wants to check her political affiliation first. He does so by asking Kit what her grandfather believed; he likely knows that Kit shares her grandfather’s politics and doesn’t have her own opinions. New England women can’t vote or participate in government, so Matthew probably assumes that Kit doesn’t have independent thoughts regarding the current political situation.
Themes
