William (The Witch)

William

Background

William "Will" is a farmer in New England. His wife is Katherine and his children are Thomasin, Mercy, Samuel, Caleb and Jonas. William is deeply religious.

During the events of The Witch (2015) played by Ralph Ineson

William is in front of a town council as Thomasin, Katherine, Caleb, Mercy, Jonas and Samuel are nearby and a group of Settlers watch. William questions the motives of the villagers in leaving England. The Governor tells William to be silent and as William continues, Old Slater tells William that he is the one being judged, not them. William calls them false Christians and the Governor banishes William and his family from the village. As they are leaving the village they pass Wampanoag Men and pass three Militia Men who close the village doors to them. William then takes his family on a wagon out into the forest. The family arrives at a clearing and gives a prayer of thanks.

Months later, Samuel goes missing while Thomasin is watching him. Caleb wakes up to Katherine crying and meets up with William and tells him everyone is asleep except Katherine, who is crying. William tells Caleb they can't search for Samuel anymore and they go into the woods to check on traps William set. William, Caleb and Fowler go into the woods and William discusses sin with Caleb. Caleb asks if Samuel was born a sinner and if Samuel is in Hell. William tells Caleb that he cannot tell him if Samuel is in hell. William admits to Caleb that he traded Katherine's silver cup for the traps they are using and tells Caleb not to tell Katherine. Fowler spots a black rabbit and alerts William and Caleb. As the gunpowder in his rifle goes off, it flashes William in the face. William and Caleb return home and William throws Black Phillip into the goat pen. Katherine yells at William for leaving with Caleb and Thomasin for not watching Mercy and Jonas. Caleb lies to Katherine and tells him William and him went to look for apples.

Afterwards, William goes to chop wood to add to an already large pile. At dinner, Katherine blames Thomasin for losing the silver cup. Thomasin denies losing it and William tells Katherine to believe Thomasin. Katherine continues to blame Thomasin and William tells Katherine, Thomasin didn't touch the cup, but doesn't tell her he sold it. Before falling asleep, William tells Katherine she should stop thinking about her sadness and focus more on God and that she should feel lucky that only one of their children has been taken from them in comparison to other families. Katherine tells him God has cursed their family and they shouldn't have left the village. Katherine tells William they should give Thomasin to another family to work for them, Samuel is in Hell and they are going to starve. William offers to go in the morning to offer Thomasin to the Tilden or Whything families.

In the morning, William, Katherine, Mercy and Jonas start to call for Thomasin and Caleb who are missing. William finds Thomasin and asks where Caleb is. Katherine gets mad at Thomasin for what happened and then at William when he tells her he plans on searching himself for Caleb instead of walking back to get help from their old village. As Katherine is questioning Thomasin, William admits to her that he took her silver cup and sold it. He then tells her why he and Caleb went out into the woods the day previous. Katherine calls William a liar and slaps him after saying he will doom their family if he leaves. Caleb walks up and collapses. He is brought inside and Katherine starts to pray over him while William goes outsdide and chops wood.

Katherine tells William she thinks Caleb is under a magic spell. William tells her he is going to take Thomasin into town in the morning and to get a doctor for Caleb. Katherine tells him she wants to go back to England and she no longer feels God's love. Caleb suddenly starts to scream and starts babbling about cutting off The Witch's head. He regurgitates a bloody apple and when Katherine says Caleb is witched, Mercy and Jonas accuse Thomasin of being a witch and turning Flora's milk into blood. William orders Thomasin to give her word that she loves God. As William orders everyone to pray over Caleb, Mercy and Jonas say they have forgotten their prayer words. They start to scream and Caleb starts babbling and professes his sins to Jesus. He asks God to take him to Heaven and suddenly dies. Katherine yells at Thomasin to go outside and William follows her. He tells Thomasin to be honest with him and a council will be formed to judge her. She says she isn't a witch, but doesn't believe her when she says she isn't one. When he demands the truth again she calls him a hypocrite and says he cannot do anything but chop wood. She accuses Black Phillip of being Satan and Mercy and Jonas of following him. William grabs Thomasin, Mercy and Jonas and throws them in the goat pen after he has Thomasin tell Katherine that Mercy and Jonas made a covenant with the Devil.

William and Katherine dig a grave and Katherine lays inside with Caleb's body. William then chops more wood and confesses he left the village due to pride and asks God to redeem his children. In the morning, William wakes up and finds the goat shed destroyed, Mercy and Jonas gone, Flora dead and Thomasin covered in blood. He is then gored by Black Phillip in the stomach. William grabs an axe, but is gored again by Black Phillip and slammed into the large stack of wood William had cut and dies.