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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We can thus see Tituba's confession as a parody <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> ideal <strong>for</strong>m <strong>of</strong> torture <strong>for</strong> in<strong>for</strong>mation.<br />
Ra<strong>the</strong>r than garnering true in<strong>for</strong>mation <strong>for</strong> Parris in his search <strong>for</strong> his daughter's tormentors, instead <strong>the</strong><br />
pain caused in<strong>for</strong>mation to spread in <strong>the</strong> opposite direction: Tituba learned through torture what sort <strong>of</strong><br />
confession to make, and what <strong>the</strong> wages <strong>of</strong> non-compliance would be. While her confession in court<br />
was not brought about through torture by <strong>the</strong> judiciary, her confession depended on being tortured<br />
none<strong>the</strong>less – to have maintained innocence under <strong>the</strong> circumstances would not only have meant facing<br />
a trial she was likely to lose, but a master whose authority could only be imperfectly circumscribed by<br />
<strong>the</strong> law, and <strong>the</strong> safety <strong>of</strong> whose own flesh and blood depended (in his view) on <strong>for</strong>cing Tituba to reveal<br />
everything to <strong>the</strong> court. Consequently, her apparently irrational confession is in fact quite rational in<br />
retrospect: she faced a choice between certain execution and torture if she did not confess, and certain<br />
executed (but without being tortured) if she cooperated. It is only with this seemingly un-coerced<br />
confession and <strong>the</strong> need <strong>for</strong> her testimony in court against those she had named that we can explain <strong>the</strong><br />
cycle <strong>of</strong> denunciations and confessions that followed: her confession convinced <strong>the</strong> judges that <strong>the</strong><br />
conspiracy was real, that <strong>the</strong> testimony <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> afflicted was true, and that those indications that did exist<br />
that things were not what <strong>the</strong>y seemed could safely be ignored. 69<br />
3.8. Conclusion<br />
<strong>The</strong> Salem Witch Trials differed so strongly from previous trials in New England because <strong>the</strong><br />
authorities believed <strong>the</strong>mselves to be confronting a secret and organized threat against God and<br />
government, and because <strong>the</strong>y unconsciously replicated <strong>the</strong> logic <strong>of</strong> coercive interrogation. Both <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>se conditions were necessary <strong>for</strong> <strong>the</strong> creation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> deceptive cycle that tore through <strong>the</strong> wider<br />
colonial community. <strong>The</strong> witch trials that had occurred in New England during <strong>the</strong> first 80 years <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
17 th Century were limited in scope because <strong>the</strong> crime <strong>of</strong> witchcraft was understood primarily as<br />
maleficium – that is, as <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> black magic to harm neighbors or gain revenge: consequently, <strong>the</strong><br />
only goal <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> authorities was to determine <strong>the</strong> suspect's innocence or guilt, with few social<br />
69 An example <strong>of</strong> how <strong>the</strong> judges' assumptions (apparently validated through confessions) regarding spectral testimony<br />
occurs during <strong>the</strong> trial <strong>of</strong> Sarah Good. As reported by Calef, “one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> afflicted fell in a fit, and after coming out <strong>of</strong> it<br />
she cried out <strong>of</strong> [Good's specter] <strong>for</strong> stabbing her in <strong>the</strong> breast with a knife (…) Accordingly a piece <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> blade <strong>of</strong> a<br />
knife was found about her. Immediately (…) a young man (…) produced a haft and a part <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> blade, which <strong>the</strong> court<br />
having viewed and compared found to be <strong>the</strong> same. And upon inquiry <strong>the</strong> young man affirmed that yesterday he<br />
happened to break that knife, and that he cast away <strong>the</strong> upper part (i.e., <strong>the</strong> blade piece found on <strong>the</strong> afflicted), this<br />
afflicted person <strong>the</strong>n being present. <strong>The</strong> young man was dismissed, and she was bidden by <strong>the</strong> court not to tell lies.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> afflicted <strong>the</strong>n went on to give fur<strong>the</strong>r testimony to <strong>the</strong> court. (Hansen, p. 114)<br />
72