'What happiness will fill the redeemed souls, when they dwell in glory, to see the sinner as he rolls, in the inextinguishable flames of hell'? (Isaac Watts). In the Bible of the Puritan era, the subject of hell was inescapable. Sin and hellfire were also the dark and twisting theme of many writers in the Puritan era of witches and the urgency of redemption from sin to pass from life to death. “Thou shalt not suffer a witch” was a commandment that the Puritans believed in during the time. the witch trials and was also explained in the play “The Crucible” (1277). Witches' belief during trials was very high, especially if it went against their Bible and beliefs. Anyone who managed to convince the court that they were “bewitched” was tried and hanged for their confessions of witchcraft. The confessions of these accused witches signed the devil's black book with blood. (12--). Confessing to being with the devil was also contrary to their belief about who is already chosen for God. If someone signed with the devil, it meant they were condemning themselves to hell and were not chosen for God. Some signs of a witch included the number of unbaptized children, marks on the body, and how often you attended community sermons. The Puritans lived in constant fear of not being chosen for God, driven to the redemption of their souls, and listened to sermons about fears of hell more than the very person they should be trying to please, God. In "The Minister's Black Veil", the opening scene takes place in a church in a Puritan society. The townspeople crowd into the church when their minister enters, his face covered with a black veil. The veil, in the story, symbolized two different pieces. "To hide his face under the consciousness of a secret sin" was the first p...... middle of paper ......k he is rich and he is happy because he can have everything that he always wanted to, that was the perception. (15-16). But the reality, he shot himself in the head, maybe due to depression or unhappiness, but it shows this perception and imagination that we build on someone and then BAM! People are waking up to see the real world and it's not all they thought it was. The Puritans had a difficult religious life, facing hell and damnation, the redemption of the soul and the bridge between life and death, as the “chosen” or not. Works Cited Edward, Jonathan. The Eternity of Hell's Torments: Puritan Spirits, copyright 1995. Roman numerals II and IVHughes, Langston. Me Too: The Estate of Langston Hughes, copyright 1994.Miller, Arthur. The Crucible, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Copyright 2002. Robinson, A. Edwin. Richard Cory, New Jersey: Pearson education, Inc. Copyright 2002Watts, Isaac.