Motif of Spells and Magic

A variety of spells and magic serve as a motif throughout the novel. This motif works in connection with the idea of women as witches and that women are not the only people who are superstitious.

The novel opens with Harriet forgetting to repeat her aunt’s incantation and her attempts to convince herself that the words really do not mean anything. Since Harriet was a timid, fearful child, her aunt gave her an incantation to repeat at the beginning of the first day of each month. Myrna told Harriet the incantation would “bring you good luck … It’ll protect you” (1). Harriet believes she needs “magic” (1) more than ever on the day she has forgotten to say this incantation. She fears she has missed her chance to take advantage of the magic. Harriet tries to convince herself that because she is an...