More Weight: A Salem Story by Ben Wickley (2025)
This is a massive doorstop of a book -- a 473-page highly-detailed graphic novel, capped by 51 pages of even more highly detailed notes in very small type. The subject is the Salem Witch Trials, as well as its lingering effects into the present. The majority of the book covers the background and trial of the 1690s, interspersed with the conversations of two friends -- Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as the explore the town and the effect the past has had on their lives (it should be also noted that during their walks, Hawthorne was a ghost); the final section of the book explores the city of Salem itself, its rise and fall and further rise and fall over the centuries to its current status as the Witch City of America.
The causes of the madness that struck Salem in the late seventeenth century can be attributed to many things, many of which are still open to debate: the uncertain political atmosphere due to the charter of the Massachusetts colony having been revoked by England for a period of some four years, the fierce hold that Puritanism maintained on the community in spite of other rising forces, the disparity and resentments between the more rural Salem Village (now the town of Danvers) and the more urbane (if such a word can be used in this context Salem Town (now the city of Salem), the relationship with and fear of native Americans (most of which had been driven from the area), the hallucinogenic effects that the fungi ergot may or may not have had on the diet of the townspeople, personal grievances and family feuds, avarice, the meretricious behavior of a small group of unthinking children, or the general madness of crowds.
We all know the story. A small group of girls, aged 12 to 17, perhaps aided by an enslaved woman named Tibuta, began accusing women of the community of persecuting them by diabolical means -- stabbing the with invisible pins, pinching them, demanding they write their names in a book, and so on. Seeing the supposed witchcraft as a threat to the established order, the Puritanical establishment c called the accused to be examined and to testify; all had to swear "by God and by country." through a legal quirk, witchcraft was considered a civil offense, not a religious one, so the trials were under the auspices of a civil court, and not a religious one. Amon the main villains in this case were Judge Samuel Sewall (who brooked no nonsense in his pre-formed decisions of guilty), William Stoughton, the Lieutenant Governor and the chief magistrate of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, and John Hathorne (who was a direct ancestor to Nathaniel Hawthorne, much to his descendant's shame). One name which is closely connected to the story is that of Cotton Mather, who, because of his religious standing, had no dealings with the trial -- a shame, because Mather cautioned against putting any weight on the accusations of the afflicted girls, one of the very few things to Mather's credit; his advice, of course, was completely ignored and convictions were gained almost solely through the girls' accusations. In all, nearly 200 people were accused of witchcraft, thirty was found guilty, and nineteen -- men and women both -- were hung. Five other died while being imprisoned under deplorable conditions. One man -- Giles Cory -- was tortured to death for refusing to enter a plea.
It is Giles Corey who is the main character in this graphic novel. Corey, a man with a checkered background, was a farmer in Salem Village. He is portrayed here as a stubborn man of eighty, with a temper as well as a conflicted nature. He is married to his third wife, Martha, who has a forgiving soul. Also living with them is Benobi, Martha's mixed race son, of whose origins we learn nothing. Cory had repented his past and had been welcomed into the church, although he not necessarily liked because of his temper and pride. When the time came for Martha to be accused of being a witch, Corey tried to defend her but his words were take out of context. While Martha did not believe in witches, Corey most probably did and may have had some doubts about his wife although he dearly cared for her. Martha was found guilty and was sentenced to be hanged. Shortly thereafter, Corey found himself accused. At his trial, he refused to speak -- more especially he refused to say the words "by God and my country." This inflamed Stoughton I(he who mjust be obeyed), who eventually ordered Corey to be pressed, forced to lie down while heavy rocks were placed upon his chest until he uttered the words Stoughton demanded to hear. As more rocks were added, becoming heavier than most men could endure, Corey could only say, "More weight." As more weight was added, Corey died, crushed to death, executed without either a conviction or a trial.
The Salem Witch Trials covered a period of only thirteen months. The madness ended when the colony finally had a new charter from England, putting an end to some spurious legal procedure and when Governor William Phips ordered a stop to the trials. Many of the accused -- but not all -- received pardons and some were given minor compensations. The last person to be legally exonerated was Elizabeth Johnson Jr., who was granted clemency by the Massachusetts legislature in 2022 (!).
Ben Wickey's network for this graphic novel combines a stylized pen and ink phantasmagoria with gorgeous full-color painting to provide a story that is both visually captivating and emotionally gripping, with a sometimes back and forth staccato effect that sweeps the reader into its majesty. To say that this is an important and meaningful work would be an understatement.
Wickey spent ten years creating More Weight, researching contemporary historical documents as well as current archaeological research. For background material, Wickey also used many of the histories written about the period, Longfellow's play Giles Corey of Salem Farms and other works, Hawthorne's novels (especially The House of Seven Gables and The Scarlet Letter, Charles Upham's 1867 history Salem Witchcraft, and Mary Wilkins Freeman's 1893 play Giles Corey, Yeoman, as well as discussions with local historians -- being careful to identify quotes, descriptions, and impressions to the proper sources. The result, while not a full-blown history, is history as near as we can get it...fascinating, terrifying, and immediate.
Highly recommended.
Perhaps like me, you will be able to see the echoes of this past age encroaching on our current times where rumor, madness, ignorance, and intolerance are once again raising their ugly head. History is but a ghost haunting us in the present.
