because they don’t understand her.  Kit, who also does not fit in, befriends her and soon learns she is nothing more than a generous and kindly old woman.

"Nobody but Hannah Tupper would live there by Blackbird Pond, right at the edge of the swamp, but she likes it. They can't persuade her to leave." (Ch. 8)

Hannah is fiercely independent, but she is also kind-hearted.  She takes in strays, like Kit, Nat, and Prudence.  They form a sort of family of outcasts, teaching Prudence to read, and enjoying one another’s company in the comforts of Hannah’s cottage.  There, they do not face the harsh judgment of the Puritans.

Of course, such an ideal setting could never last.  It is soon discovered that Kit was visiting Hannah, and both Kit and Hannah are accused of being witches.  Hannah’s witchcraft is said to be causing the fever that is hitting the village, and she supposedly can turn herself into a mouse.

His wife drew a hissing breath. "That mouse was Hannah Tupper! 'Tis not the first time she's changed herself into a creature. They say when the moon is full--" (Ch. 18)

When Kit is put on trial, she admits to visiting Hannah, and teaching Prudence to read.  The townspeople have to acknowledge that Hannah was just a little old lady, and Kit was just a lonely girl.  Kit realizes that she can never like with these people, or understand them.  She decides to marry Nat, and live with him, traveling the world.

Hannah Tupper is one of the few characters that Kit really finds a connection with. That turns out to be troublesome for Kit, but it fortunately works out in the end. Hannah is a dangerous friend to have because of how the majority of the town views her. The people are deeply religious and very superstitious; therefore, they fear anything that is different.

Hannah lives apart from the community, and she is a Quaker. These two things alone make her the village Boogeyman—or, in this case, she is a potential witch. Hannah doesn't really help herself either, since she has been seen stirring a big kettle with a long stick. Kit is able to look past all of the oddities that surround Hannah, and her home becomes a place of refuge. Hannah is eventually suspected of being the cause of the fever, so she becomes a scapegoat for the community.

Hannah Tupper is a Quaker. The Quakers did not believe that a minister was needed to lead a church. They believed that God was within everyone. At the meetings, which is what church services were called, the congregation sat on long benches that faced each other. When "the spirit moved" members, they would stand and speak their thoughts of a spiritual nature. Quakers are pacifists; they do not believe in warfare and violence as a solution to problems. In speaking, they use the pronouns "thee" and "thou" instead of you and your. Quakers believed in equality in all areas of life.

In Elizabeth George Speare’s The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Hannah Tupper is an old, kind-hearted widow, who is outlawed by the Puritan society. She lives alone in a small house located near the edge of the Blackbird Pond, after the death of her husband Thomas Tupper. Hannah is an extremely polite, warm, welcoming and gentle lady. She supports and consoles an orphan girl Katherine/Kit Tyler (the protagonist of the novel) when she’s heartbroken and down in the dumps. In fact, both of them become very close friends after that. Hannah is misunderstood, disliked and mistreated by the Puritan settlers because she is a Quaker woman. She lives a life of an outcaste only because she has a different faith and does not attend Puritan meetings. She is even accused of witchcraft by the Puritan settlers.