The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information
The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information
The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information
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partners in <strong>the</strong>ir own (apparent) destruction. As we have seen, it was precisely <strong>the</strong>se last two necessary<br />
(and interconnected) behaviors that eventually weakened sufficiently to bring <strong>the</strong> trials to a dramatic<br />
halt.<br />
3.6. <strong>The</strong> Strategic <strong>Logic</strong> <strong>of</strong> Coercive Interrogation<br />
In order <strong>for</strong> a deceptive cycle to continue, <strong>the</strong> authorities must not become aware that <strong>the</strong>y are<br />
in one. <strong>The</strong> captives must lie, and <strong>the</strong> torturer (or coercive interrogator) must continue to believe <strong>the</strong>m.<br />
How did this happen in Salem? Let us begin with <strong>the</strong> afflicted. <strong>The</strong> most obvious incentive <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
women and men who made <strong>the</strong> accusations was to punish <strong>the</strong>ir enemies – ei<strong>the</strong>r because <strong>the</strong>y sincerely<br />
believed <strong>the</strong>se enemies to be at <strong>the</strong> root <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir suffering (and <strong>the</strong>re is no doubt that at least some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
afflicted were sincere in this belief – see <strong>the</strong> case <strong>of</strong> Mercy Short <strong>of</strong> Boston, whose afflictions were<br />
long-lasting and prevented her from eating <strong>for</strong> as long as twelve days at a time), or because <strong>the</strong>y were<br />
willing to cynically use <strong>the</strong> trials to attack enemies <strong>the</strong>y knew to be innocent (as implied by Mary<br />
Warren's recantation be<strong>for</strong>e being accused herself). 59 This incentive helps to explain <strong>the</strong> spread <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
accusations, not only as <strong>the</strong> original afflicted kept naming names, but also as <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> afflicted<br />
continued to grow, with <strong>the</strong> perverse result that as <strong>the</strong> untapped potential victims in Salem village<br />
diminished (as <strong>the</strong> low-hanging fruit were snatched), new accusations around <strong>the</strong> territory (and far<strong>the</strong>r<br />
afield in Connecticut) kept <strong>the</strong> process going, validating <strong>the</strong> older accusations (and <strong>the</strong> afflicted who<br />
made <strong>the</strong>m).<br />
Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, as <strong>the</strong> accusations and ranks <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> afflicted grew, some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se accusers began to<br />
find <strong>the</strong>mselves possessed <strong>of</strong> incredible power to condemn individuals as <strong>the</strong>y saw fit! Abigail<br />
Williams and Ann Putnam Jr. in particular became quite famous and influential: <strong>the</strong>y were called upon<br />
by diverse members <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> community from around <strong>the</strong> territory to discern with <strong>the</strong>ir powers <strong>the</strong> cause<br />
<strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs' afflictions, and those <strong>the</strong>y named were very likely to find <strong>the</strong>mselves arrested <strong>for</strong> suspicion <strong>of</strong><br />
witchcraft. <strong>The</strong> influence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se very young girls in a society that valorized men and age over women<br />
and youth must have been quite disturbing to <strong>the</strong> elites in New England – and were certainly<br />
exasperating enough <strong>for</strong> Increase Ma<strong>the</strong>r (President <strong>of</strong> Harvard and <strong>the</strong> most influential religious man<br />
in <strong>the</strong> English colonies) to berate a fellow member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Boston elite (a “man <strong>of</strong> no small note”) <strong>for</strong><br />
bringing his sick child to Salem village to find <strong>the</strong> source <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> child's afflictions. “When Increase<br />
59 Short's afflictions began after visiting <strong>the</strong> accused in Boston jail around <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> May – after an altercation with Sarah<br />
Good, Short was unnerved enough to break down in convulsions which lasted <strong>of</strong>f and on until 1693. (Roach, p. 126)<br />
62