The Witch Of Blackbird Pond

Kit Tyler finds herself torn between the laid-back, warm environment of Barbados where she grew up and the rigid, cold Puritan community of Connecticut where she now resides. This tension forms a key part of Kit’s experience and development throughout the novel. How does Kit manage her conflicting identities from Barbados and Connecticut? What strategies does she use to navigate these two worlds? Consider these points as you reflect on the text to answer the question.

• What are Kit’s specific actions or choices that reflect her life and upbringing in Barbados? How are these received by the people around her in Connecticut?
• Are there moments where Kit actively tries to conform to Puritan norms? What drives her to make these choices, and what are the outcomes?
• How does Kit’s struggle with her dual identities affect her relationships with other characters in the story, such as her family members, Hannah, or Nat?

Teaching Suggestion: It may be beneficial to introduce this activity by having students think about Kit’s background as a British colonist living in Barbados. The author briefly touches upon the fact that Kit benefitted from the labor of enslaved people (Chapter 2). Students can contrast this with Puritan society, where slavery was less common.