Mercy

*"Why is't when thou dost a wrong, I am a-washing Father's clothes like a slave, and thou art playing idle?"
"Because Mother hates you!"
"Spoilt child. I'll tell Mother you have left the farm alone."
"Black Phillip saith I can do what I like."
"Devil take your Black Phillip."
"It’s your fault I cannot leave the yard."
"Quiet, thee."
"I could go to the brook before you let The Witch take Sam."*
―Thomasin and Mercy[src]
**Mercy** is an English Puritan living in New England.

## Biography

### Early Life

Mercy is born alongside her twin brother Jonas in England to William and Katherine. She has two older siblings, Thomasin and Caleb. At some point the family, along with their pet dog, Fowler, emigrate to America, where they find home at a plantation in New England.

### Banishment

*"Must you continue to dishonor the laws of the commonwealth and the church with your prideful conceit?"
"If my conscience sees it fit."
"Then shall you be banished out of this plantation's liberties!"
"I would be glad on it."*
―William and the governor[src]

Along with the rest of her family, Mercy is brought before the governor of the plantation due to a religious dispute. She watches as her father argues with the governor, stating that they left their home and kinsmen and travailed a vast ocean for the pure and faithful dispensation of the Gospels and the Kindgdom of God. He declares the dignitaries to be false Christians unfit to judge him and the governor accuses him of dishonoring the law of the Commonwealth and the Church with his prideful conceit. William refuses to back down and the governor banishes the family from the plantation.

The family then leave the plantation with what little they can fit on the back of the carriage pulled by their horse, Burt. Katherine leads the twins in the singing of a hymn. They travel for some time before finding a fertile stretch of land at the edge of a forest where they can set up a farm. Kneeling, they join hands in prayer.

### Samuel's Disappearance

Several months pass, during which the family build their farm, acquire several livestock and welcome a new baby boy, Samuel. During that time, Mercy and Jonas grow fond of the billy goat, Black Phillip, who speaks to them in private. One day as Thomasin is looking after him, Samuel goes missing.

### Playing on the Farm

*"'Twas I what stole him. I be the witch of the Wood."
"Liar! Liar!!"
"I am."
"List not to her, Mercy."
"I am that very witch. When I sleep my spirit slips away from my body and dances naked with The Devil. That's how I signed his book."
"No!"
"He bade me bring him an unbaptized babe, and I stole Sam, and I gave him to my master. And I’ll make any man or thing else vanish I like."
"No."
"Aye. And I'll vanish thee too if thou displeaseth me."*
―Thomasin, Mercy and Caleb[src]

Over the course of the next week, Samuel is not found. Katherine falls into a deep depression, unable to sleep and crying and praying constantly. Despite the somber mood that envelopes the family, Mercy and Jonas continue to cheerfully play about the farm. They chase Black Phillip around the yard and sing songs in his honor. Thomasin tells them to come and help her with the work, but they ignore her. Black Phillip gets riled up, at which point William and Caleb return to the farm. William wrestles the goat back into his pen as Katherine holds the twins back. Once Caleb closes the pen, William falls into a pile of dung, prompting the twins to laugh at him. The twins continue to play as William, Katherine and Thomasin argue. Jonas pulls at Mercy's cheek as she laughs and William tells him to leave her be, but he replies that she likes it. William tells Thomasin to take the twins inside and despite their protests she orders them into the house.

Mercy later sneaks up on Thomasin and Caleb at the brook. She pretends to be a witch, using a branch as a broomstick. Thomasin tells her off for playing idle while she works like a slave. Mercy tells Thomasin that Katherine hates her and blames her for her inability to leave the yard, saying that it is because Thomasin let a witch take Samuel. Caleb tells her that Samuel was taken by a wolf and Mercy insists that it was a witch, claiming to have seen her. Thomasin tells Mercy that she is the witch and that she stole Sam and gave him to the Devil. Mercy does not believe her, but Thomasin forces her to the ground, beats her and threatens to eat her if she tells their parents as Caleb tells her to stop. Mercy swears to be silent and once Thomasin releases her she runs away, warning Caleb to run or she will bewitch him.

Later that night, William leads the family in prayer as they sit down for supper. Katherine asks Thomasin what she has done with her father's silver cup, implying that she has lost or stolen it. William tells Caleb to read a chapter of the Word in an attempt to diffuse the situation. They hear the goats bleating and Katherine chides Thomasin for not bedding them down before supper. As Thomasin leaves the table, Jonas bleats like a goat, earning a laugh from Mercy.

As the family are in bed that night, Mercy and her siblings overhear a conversation between their parents. Katherine calls out to the children and they do not reply. They listen as Katherine tells William that Thomasin has begun to mature into a woman and is now old enough to leave and serve another family. She tells him that due to their corn being infected with ergot, they will starve if they do not take drastic action. William ultimately gives in, promising to take Thomasin to the village the next day and give her to the Tildens or the Whytings.

### Suspiscions

*"Black Phillip saith you are wicked."
"Aye, he told me too."
"Damn your Black Phillip!"
"He saith you put The Devil in Caleb, that's why he's sick."
"I'd never hurt Caleb, nor Sam, nor thee."
"You beat me!"
"It was a jest."
"You said you'd eat of me!"
"Mercy!?"
"Mother and Father will find out."
"What?"
"That you are a witch!"*
―Jonas, Mercy and Thomasin[src]

The next morning, the family awakes to find Thomasin and Caleb missing. The twins are tied to a fence to prevent them from wandering off as their parents scour the edge of the wood and call for Thomasin and Caleb. Thomasin is later located and returned to the farm, but Caleb is not with her. William prepares to set out to find Caleb, despite it raining heavily and Fowler, Burt and the musket going missing in the wood, as the twins beg him not to go. Katherine demands that Thomasin tell her why she and Caleb went to the wood, and William confesses that he sold the silver cup and took Caleb to the wood the previous morning.

The twins watch as their parents argue and Katherine strikes William across the face. Afterwards, Katherine holds the twins as Thomasin treats their father's wound and asks if the goats have been bedded down yet. Katherine replies that they have not and Thomasin offers to do it to please her. Kathrine tells her to come closer and finally shows her some affection by kissing her on the forehead and telling her to hurry back. Thomasin finds Caleb outide, naked and delirious.

The next morning, the twins are with Thomasin in the goat shed as she milks Flora, one of the nanny goats. Mercy asks Black Phillip if Thomasin has made Caleb sick. Thomasin asks the twins what they are saying and they reply that the goat has told them that she is wicked and that she made Caleb sick by putting the Devil in him. Thomasin states that she would never hurt any of them, but Mercy reminds her that she beat her and threatened to eat her, which Thomasin replies was a jest. They tell her that their parents will find out that she is a witch. Thomasin squeezes Flora's teat and blood squirts out, shocking them all.

William calls upon the twins and Thomasin urges them not to speak of Flora's teat producing blood. As the family search for unspoiled crops, Mercy sings of Black Phillip, continuing to do so as Thomasin and Katherine repeatedly tell her to stop. They hear Caleb screaming in the house and rush in, where they find him sweating profusely and screaming about a female tormentor. Thomasin holds the twins back as William forces Caleb's mouth open with the handle of his knife to remove an obstructing object. Caleb spits out a bloody apple and Katherine cries out that he is bewitched. The twins accuse Thomasin, recalling her jest to Mercy and Flora's udder producing blood, as well as her telling them to keep it secret from them.

William refuses to believe them, but orders Thomasin to kneel. He demands to know if she loves the Word of God, the Bible and prayer. She replies that she loves them all and he believes her, declaring that while they are all children of sin, he has raised no witch. He orders them all to pray, but the twins insist on Thomasin's guilt and she calls them evil wretches. Their parents order them by pray, but as the others begin the twins double over in pain and cannot remember the prayer. Thomasin orders them to pray, but they fall to the floor, screaming and convulsing. Caleb screams that his female tormentor desires of his blood and the twins repeat the statement. As the rest of the family continue to pray, the twins fall unconscious.

The twins are awoken when William grabs Jonas and threatens to kill him with a billhook. Jonas screams and Mercy attempts to free him from their father's grip. Thomasin has accused the twins of making covenant with the Devil, who she claims is Black Phillip, and damning the farm. Unsure of who to believe, William locks his remaining children in the goat shed with Black Phillip. The twins cry as Thomasin begs him not to keep her in there with them. He states that he will free them at dawn, when they will set off for the plantation, and urges them to think on their sins.

In the shed, the children ask each other if they are witches and that all reply that they are not. Thomasin asks the twins if Black Phillip really speaks to them and they do not reply, while the goat simply sits there grunting to himself.

### Disappearance

*"Where are they?"
"I know not what I saw–"
"WHERE ARE THEY?"
"I did nothing! She came from the sky – she –"
"Devil! You have their blood upon thy hands!"*
―Katherine and Thomasin[src]

Late in the night, twins are woken in terror by a loud noise coming from above. They see a naked figure leaning beside Flora, slurping and biting at her teat. As they approach, the figure turns and cackles at them, revealed to by a hideous old woman. They scream in terror.

The next morning, William approaches the goat shed, which has been smashed open, and find the twins gone, the nanny goats slaughtered and Thomasin covered in blood. He is the killed by Black Phillip and upon discovering his body Katherine accuses Thomasin of killing him and the twins. Thomasin kills her mother in self defence and later that night she asks Black Phillip to speak to her as he did the twins. He reveals his true nature to her and on a promise of living deliciously and seeing the world, she signs her name in his book, binding her soul to him and becoming a witch.

## Personality

*"Jonas! Leave thy sister be!"
"She likes it."*
―William and Jonas[src]
Mercy is inseperable from her twin brother Jonas. They are mischievous children who enjoy playing on their family's farm. They are very fond of the billy goat, Black Phillip, and speak with him in secret. Mercy grows to resent he older sister Thomasin, blaming her for the disappearance of their baby brother Samuel. Thomasin jokingly claims to be witch to frighten Mercy, but Mercy takes it at face value and later accuses Thomasin of witchcraft.

## Religion

*"I...I cannot remember my prayer."
"What?"
"Nor I."*
―Jonas, Katherine and Mercy[src]
Mercy was raised by her parents as a Christian, but she later grows close to Black Phillip, who is secretly the Devil. Upon being told to pray for her brother Caleb when he is affected by witchcraft, she cannot remember her prayer.

## Trivia

* The twins' fate is left unclear, but many viewers have speculated that they were killed and their remains were used to create flying ointment, which the coven used to levitate in the final scene.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Eggers, Robert, *The Witch*, A24, USA, February 19, 2016