With the target in place, it was now time for rationalization to validate persecution. In fact, a strong argument she presents is that the witch may have been unconsciously devised by the very finger-pointers (whether secular/religious, high status/low status) in order to suit the psychological and social needs of their communities. And who in the village was incapable of contributing to the rigid chores required to maintain the villagers? The widowed old woman, of course! Could there have been a more convenient target? Roper seems to think not. As Roper described, production was the basis on which villages stood. While the first accusations a witch faced generally involved destroying crops or killing livestock, she soon took on much more sinister roles in the community. Naturally, no one was willing to voluntarily accept the blame for such natural phenomenon, and so fantasy presented such a creature. In a time when back-breaking work could go to waste due to drought, someone had to take the blame. The reproduction of crops was the heart of every village. Without a satisfactory year, famine could ultimately destroy entire territories. While the church was certainly a cornerstone for peasant living, one could argue that the supreme “god” worshipped in this time was agriculture. Each day was spent doing hard labor, hoping it would be enough to sustain your family until the next day.
During this time, village life was painful. The first theme, persecution, sets the overall mood of Baroque Europe. The four main themes highlighted are persecution, fantasy, womanhood, and finally the witch. However, the theme-by-theme presentation she uses not only makes for an interesting read, but ensures the over-arching ideas are well integrated and flowing. There are many conceivable ways in which Roper’s thesis could be developed. Essentially, the witch craze was started due to a prevailing form of envy at work amongst Reformation villagers. Roper states “witchcraft accusations were a hall of mirrors where neighbors saw their own fear and greed in the shape of a witch ”.
Incorporating both psychology and the traditional anthropology method to explain witchcraft takes Witch Craze from ordinary to extraordinary. Instead of taking a cookie-cutter approach to clarifying how the idea of witchcraft was able to captivate and enthrall the villagers of German towns, Roper takes an exceptional route. Roper spends much time bringing specific stories to light, painting a picture of village life in Europe during the time of the Reformation. In the book, Witch Craze, Lyndal Roper accepts the daunting challenge of explaining the mass fear of witchcraft in European history.
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