Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
It took me way longer than expected to finish Ben Wickey’s graphic novel ‘More Weight: A Salem Story’, which explores the history and legacy of the city infamous for its witch trials. Over 500 pages long, the length of the book is the kind of length I wish most graphic novels would be.
The book largely focuses on two distinct timelines, one which is set in 1962, following Giles Corey, a farmer who was accused of witchcraft along with his wife Martha Corey, while the other unfolds in 1860s, through the perspective of writers Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow while they walk through Salem and look into their family history in connection to the infamous trials.
The first half of ‘More Weight’ is rife with dark humor, irony, and witticism as the story first looks into the women accused of witchcraft and ‘hurting’ local children. The domestic chatter between Giles and his beloved wife Martha comically illustrates their wildly different beliefs on the matter. Giles Corey is excessively superstitious, emotional, volatile and attends the early witch trial examinations out of curiosity. His wife Martha is more practical, smart, and doesn’t believe in sorcery and supernatural interference. Once you get familiar with the couple, the irony of their eventual plight is heartbreaking, even if Giles comes across as an old whiny Grinch.
Rumor-mongering, fear, paranoia grips the region, with neighbor turning against neighbor. It seems all one had to do to get rid of their enemy was to pronounce them a witch or wizard. Uncanniest of things become fodder for crucifying someone. And the judicial system, if one can call it that, was more than happy to put the fear of God into men and women through these trials which lead to at least 19 hangings.
There’s something almost grotesquely theatrical about the way Wickey illustrates the accusers, especially the children, whose dramatic expressions and behaviour make the proceedings resemble a bizarre stage performance. It’s an effective artistic choice that highlights the absurdity of the accusations, even as the consequences become increasingly horrifying. For the children, it’s a wicked game of lies, for the adults, it’s life or death.
Obviously, this is a heavily fictionalised account that draws from real events, and as a non-American reader who isn’t very familiar with the Salem witch trials, I found ‘More Weight’ to be a fascinating introduction to this dark chapter of history. Unfortunately, the story flow is often marred by hard-to-read text styles and art panels arranged in a way that despite featuring engaging illustrations, make the reading experience a bit of a challenge. Also, each time ‘More Weight’ shifted to the Nathaniel Hawthorne storyline, it broke my immersion in the tale.
I understand the intention behind revisiting Salem through the eyes of later generations, particularly those with familial connections to the trials, but these sections lack the urgency and emotional weight of the Coreys’ story. Every time the narrative returned to them, I found myself impatient to get back to the seventeenth century. Ben Wickey’s efforts to put in as many perspectives to a dark historic chapter is laudable, but not necessary.
From depicting the everyday lives of the Coreys to exploring the religious fanaticism, political agendas and personal vendettas that fuelled the persecution, Wickey does a commendable job of humanising people who might otherwise be remembered merely as names in history books. It’s an ambitious, meticulously illustrated graphic novel that makes the absurdity of the trials as disturbing as their brutality. I wish the storytelling were a little less convoluted, because More Weight lives up to its title, but it feels also is a little too weighty for its own good.
P.S. It’s believed that “more weight” were the last words uttered by Giles Corey, who was pressed to death after he refused to enter a plea on the charges against him.
Rating for ‘More Weight’: 3 stars on 5.
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