You think it God’s work you should never lose a child, nor grandchild either, and I bury all but one?
– Arthur Miller
The Crucible, Act 1. Mrs. Putnam is talking to Rebecca about her seven babies who died on the day they were born. She is jealous of Rebeccca because she has eleven children all living while she has buried all but one. Mrs. Putnam disputes Rebecca’s suggestion that Betty and Ruth’s apparent illness is the work of God and not the Devil. She believes that evil forces are behind their sickness and the death of her seven babies. Later in the play Rebecca will be charged with the murder of the Putnam babies by supernatural means.