The Mercies

In The Mercies, the danger of superstitious prejudice is as much an antagonist as Absalom or Pastor Kurtsson. Prejudice creates scapegoats out of people who are different. While the storm might have killed 40 men, the real storm in The Mercies is the anger that can fester between people.

Although Vardø largely functions well as long as the women are left to their own devices, the treatment of Diinna, a Sámi woman who married into the community, shows the latent threat of prejudice. The Sámi are the original inhabitants of the land that now hosts Vardø, but Vardø’s residents see Diinna as the foreigner. Her physical darkness, high cheekbones, and strange aura all mark her as different, but her power lies in her sense of self; she doesn’t try to fit in with the other women believing that her work and her child earn her inclusion in the community. However, only Maren truly accepts and loves her. Crucially, Diinna speaks a Sámi language that the other women don’t understand, and they use this as evidence of her strangeness: Diinna must point out that not understanding someone’s language doesn’t mean that person is a devil. While Vardø’s tribalism helps the community survive, it also prevents the residents from learning about other cultures and people (though the women do find Diinna’s religious practices interesting enough to partake in poppets and runes occasionally). Diinna is still in contact with her Sámi family but chooses to stay in Vardø after Erik’s death so her son can be a part of his father’s community. Diinna therefore gives more respect to Vardø than she receives. This eventually places Diinna directly in danger, as her differences make her the easy target for accusations of witchcraft.

Absalom’s arrival heightens the danger of superstitious prejudice. In the 17th century, as European powers began to conquer other nations, King James of England and Scotland’s famous quest to rid the Christian world of witches was a colonial imperative. Executing witches would endear the colonizers to locals who were already Christian and breed enough fear in others to ensure less pushback against imperial rule. In the 16th century, European colonial powers began developing the “curse theory” that allowed for enslavement of dark-skinned people. Curse theory suggests that people of darker skin color were naturally and permanently inferior, thus giving white people permission to oppress, abuse, and enslave them. The curse theory justifies itself in terms of the Bible; curse theorists interpreted the “curse of Ham” as a reference to dark skin color. This theory is very much part of the psyche of people like Absalom, who, even in a largely white community, is still surrounded by people he believes are inherently cursed—as women and as non-Christians. Absalom seems to genuinely believe in his religious doctrines, but there is an obvious pattern to the women he labels as witches: He selects women who live independently and differently. His religious supremacy makes him see evil in anyone who doesn’t believe in God the way he believes in God. This is prejudice based on superstition, and Absalom uses it to wreak havoc in Vardø.