The Bewitching

Throughout the narrative, witch marks symbolize the power of knowledge and Women’s Legacy of Empowerment and Agency. When carved into the wood in a room, witch marks protect it against the harm posed by a witch or a warlock. Ginny carves witch marks into her room at Stoneridge even before she learns the identity of the person bewitching her. Minerva uses this inherited knowledge gleaned from her research to carve similar marks into her own room. Much of the knowledge that is passed down in the narrative is done so by women, and within the world of the novel, both knowledge and power are feminized.

Minerva learns much of what she knows about witchcraft from her great-grandmother Alba, which she combines with the things she learns from Tremblay’s writing and the research it references. Minerva is interested not only in her own family’s history, but also in the way that storytelling and folklore result from a “collective unconscious” which serves as a repository for various pieces of cultural knowledge, highlighting The Impact of Storytelling as a driving force in the novel. Because she sees so many similarities in traditions that have emerged from different parts of the world, she also sees value in respecting those traditions and accessing the power they offer to use for her own liberation.