The townspeople of Wethersfield, Connecticut, first see Kit when she arrives to the Meeting House with her family for the weekly Puritan service. Elizabeth George Speare describes this scene in the book as follows:
Rachel preceded the two girls down the aisle to the family bench. As Kit moved behind her the astonishment of the assembled townspeople met her with the impact of a gathering wave. It was not so much a sound as a...
The townspeople of Wethersfield, Connecticut, first see Kit when she arrives to the Meeting House with her family for the weekly Puritan service. Elizabeth George Speare describes this scene in the book as follows:
Rachel preceded the two girls down the aisle to the family bench. As Kit moved behind her the astonishment of the assembled townspeople met her with the impact of a gathering wave. It was not so much a sound as a stillness so intent that it made her ears ring.
This description is effective because it shows us that it's not just some arbitrary personal values that have led Kit's family to feel unnerved or shocked by her presence; rather, it is the morals of the town as a whole that dictate just how much of an outsider Kit is in this place. This shock is on a physical (not just emotional or mental) level; the townspeople are literally pulling away from Kit in a wave-like fashion. The description of the silence that makes Kit's ears ring in a community that (as we will later discover) seems to perpetuate gossip just shows how authentically stunned these people are. This strange behavior solidifies Kit's role as the community outcast... a role that will eventually cast her under great scrutiny and accusations of being a witch.
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