Beyond The Burning Time Essay, Research Paper

Mary’s Struggle

Maturation is the emergence of personal and behavioral characteristics through growth process. In the novel Beyond the Burning Time, by Kathryn Lasky, Mary Chase goes through these growth processes. In the end Mary goes through many changes and becomes a very mature person. Mary will change in the concept that she will become more aggressive and motivated in making her own decisions. She also becomes more vigorous as well as courageous in a sense that she takes the initiative to save her mother when everyone loses faith. Plus she becomes bolder in addition to more demanding due to having to sneak around and do things she never would have thought of before. She is no longer the quiet little girl that she was. When her mother is taken Mary makes it her obligation to save Mrs. Chase.

Mary’s aggression and motivation is what drives her to get her mother. When her mother was arrested she was alone. Mary loved her mother so much that she had to free her. When Mary couldn’t find her mother she became angry because Caleb seemed to give up hope. “Well, we must find out,” Mary said firmly. “Somehow, we must find out” (240). This motivation that she has helps her and Caleb to find their mother. Mary was also the one who came up with the plan to save Virginia Chase. If she would have PAGE 2 given so would everyone else. It was because of Mary that no one gave up or lost hope in their cause.

During the course of the novel Mary becomes more vigorous and courageous. She is the one who takes the initiative to save her mother when Caleb loses hope. As the novel progresses she becomes more and more courageous. To sneak around and attack who used to be your best friends and defile the law takes a lot of courage. One of the greatest examples is that she will do anything to save her mother. This is shown when Mary and Caleb kill a lamb to scare Constable Dewart, “A hooded figure jumped out from behind the boulder, but instead of a human face, the head of a sheep stared at constable Dewart” (257). The sheep of course was Mary and Caleb scaring the constable so they could free their mother.

Lastly, Mary changes in the way she deals with people. In the beginning she did what everyone said, as a result of this she never managed to go anywhere. Towards the end of the novel, though, Mary begins to think for herself more and more. Especially when she needed to find where her mother was being kept before she was to be executed. She even went so far that she threatened Mary Warren saying, “I’ll slice that lying tongue from your throat” (246). Before the witch insanity, Mary would never consider saying something so vicious. Little by little, Mary becomes bolder and more demanding.

Ultimately, Mary changes from being quite and shy to being courageous and motivated. All it takes is for her mother to get arrested. In the beginning Mary was an innocent little girl, but over the course of the novel she transforms into a bold and spirited person. She knows what she wants to do and will do anything to accomplish it. Mary had to overcome many hardships and do things that she never would have imagined PAGE 3 doing. But in the end what she did worked out to her advantage. She gained qualities that not many girls her age have and they will help her to become a better person in life. She also realized that family is the most important thing in her life and she will not let it be taken away.