Children have historically embodied two very different personas as made evident by the readings on child witches. There is the stereotypical idea of a child that pops into our head; innocent, curious, fragile, and most certainly incapable of witchcraft. But then there is the "sinister" child, the child that whispers ominously and behaves strangely (think Damien from "The Omen"). This child is less frequently thought of, but nevertheless in the back of our minds. For example, something as seemingly innocent as a child's laughter can be both delightful and terrifying. If you're playing peek-a-boo with a child you can't get enough of their little giggle, but if you're home alone and you hear a child's laughter in the night, you're probably going to start praying--at least I would. Clearly there is something both eerie and adorable about children. Perhaps it's for this reason that mature, logical adults were easily able to believe children capable of being witches.
In the case of Trier, when multiple children claimed to be witches, it is obvious they had no idea what they were doing, and were more than likely just playing pretend. Children love attention, and the mass amounts of attention they would have received during this trial would only serve to fuel the fire of what was most likely to them simply a game. We also know that children can be easily manipulated into giving false testimony, as in the ritual abuse cases of the 80's and 90's. If they feel pressured into it they would easily denounce their neighbors as witches, either out of fear, or because they thought it was fun. The idea of manipulation becomes even more likely when you factor in the fact that minors were allowed to be tortured. We know adults have a very difficult time withstanding torture, one can only imagine how much harder it must have been for a child.
Walinski-Kiehl, Robert S. "The devil's children: child witch-trials in early modern Germany." The History of European Witch-Hunts Course Packet, 2015. Print.
Thank you for your post, Rita! I have to say, I cringed at the thought of children being tortured. I agree with you that if adults can barely handle it, how much more emotionally scarring would it be for a child? Also, it's not surprising with the example with the little boy who seemed to lash out at his interrogators after going through sleep deprivation for a certain amount of time. If you've ever been around a cranky, sleep-deprived kid, you never get a lot of cooperation.
ReplyDeleteOf all the scary, possession themed movies in the world the ones I hate the most are the ones with little demon children. I think that since children are typically seen as a symbol of purity and innocence it is even more damning when they become possessed. The fact that they do symbolize innocence means that a child getting posses would symbolize the death of that innocence. It's really tough to fathom that children were actually accused of and even tortured during this time period.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Rita, I really enjoyed your observation of the different dynamics children's laughter can cause. It is so true how the sound of a child laugh can bring joy or horror. I was also thinking about just the sound of children's voices while I was reading this. In many scary movie trailers there are the voices of children in a very monotone manor. I don't know what it is about this but something raises the hair on the back of my neck whenever I hear such a calm monotone child's voice with an eerie sound of chimes and other scary movie stuff.
ReplyDeleteI agree very much with your assertions about how children can be manipulated into confessing that they are witches or accusing others. I had never considered how torture would affect a child in comparison to an adult during the witch-hunts. Even if the child was somehow acquitted and not convicted of witchcraft the permanent mental scars from being tortured would likely affect them their entire life.
ReplyDelete