The forest was used to personify the devil because of the darkness and mystery, which are similar characteristics they both have. The people in Salem thought the Devil was mysterious because they did not know anything about him, so they thought that staying away will keep them from being harmed. One of the characters did not go to church and for the people this meant he was associated with the devil. The author personifies using the devil with the forest and everything that is wrong because these ideas according to the puritans, are dark and bad, just like the devil.
