Wickedness- Patience, when recalling her early life, seems to have a concept of herself an innately wicked: despite the good efforts of her parents, she would “play on the Sabbath, tell lies, and do other Wickedness” (120). Although her mistress attempts to correct this early wickedness with some of the religious warnings that seemed to change Esther Rodgers, they have a more short-term effect on Patience, and her “convictions were too weak for strong and violent corruptions” (121). Interestingly, like Esther, Patience speaks of the times in her life in which she is good as times when she was influenced by religion, and the times in which she commits crimes as times when religion cannot control her wicked nature: “sinning would make me leave praying or praying would make me leave sinning” (122).
Murder- Patience is constantly being accused of, and confessing to, the murder of her own children. She confesses to the death of her second child (three times) presumably to anger her husband and because she is drunk. Although she is acquitted, she later drowns her third child so that “Now I am guilty of murder indeed”, and in fact attempts to kill him more than once, but finds that she can’t (124). Interestingly, this text is sympathetic to Patience because although she killed at least one of her own children, she finds God in the end, and is presumably forgiven both by him and by public opinion.
Believing- Patience, again much like Esther Rodgers, is deeply comforted by the fact that regardless of her sins, her faith in God will be her salvation. She mentions that she is troubled when she hears that all adulterers and liars will be cast into hell, but is comforted when told that the greater debtor will be forgiven equally as the lesser debtor, no matter how much more he owes. She repeats to herself the same quote that Esther does, that a man who believes in God shall never die, but have eternal life. While awaiting her execution, she is calmed and comforted by a belief that her soul will be saved—a greater issue to her than the saving of her body.