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The account of mary rowlandson summary
The account of mary rowlandson summary
The account of mary rowlandson summary
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One of the most well-known captivity narratives was lived and written by Mary Rowlandson, A Narrative of the Captivity and Removes of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson also known as The Sovereignty and Goodness of God. Mary Rowlandson was the wife of a colonial American named Joseph Rowlandson. The couple had given birth to four children. She moved from Salem, Massachusetts to Lancaster, Massachusetts in 1653, where she was soon to be kidnapped along with her children. Mary was captured by Native American tribes (Narragansett, Wampanoag and Nipmuc Indians) during King Philips War. King Phillips War was led by the Wampanoag leader Metacom, who was known to the colonist of New England as King Phillip. This war was described as “The bloodiest and most bitter …show more content…
conflict… where Indian alliance launched attacks on farms and settlements that were encroaching on Indian lands. It was the most dramatic and violent warfare in the region in the entire seventeenth century.”1 Rowlandson describes her journey as a captive and how she survived the cruelty of the Native’s in her narrative. Mary Rowlandson’s accounts show us that the colonists viewed their role in British North America as “God’s Children” while visioning the Indians as worshippers of Satan. This view of practice of different religion between the two societies was primarily the reason that contributed to the most significant misunderstanding between them. Although this view was adhered to the colonists’ eyes according to Mary Rowlandson’s accounts, her expectations were quite different from those of other colonial Europeans. According to Mary Rowlandson’s account in her narrative, it seems as if the colonists of British North America viewed themselves as “God’s Children” while having a perspective of the Indians as worshippers of Satan. She tells us quickly that the Indians came by sunrise and began burning their houses and killing them. While this incident takes place, she draws a huge line of contrast between the appearance and the systems of belief between the two societies. Rowlandson describes in her Seventh Remove, “…there was a vast difference between the lovely faces of Christians, and foul looks of those heathens, which much damped my spirit again.”3 Mary expresses the colonists as “lovely faces of Christians,” suggesting they are the most civilized people there. The Colonists felt superior to the Indians mainly because of their religious practices. Since the Indians had denied and rejected to practice the traditional religion of Christianity, this gave a reason for the colonist to view the Natives as "murtherous wretches." As Rowlandson uses words such as “hell-hounds,” “barbarous creatures,” “bloody heathen,” “infidels,” and “pagans,” to characterize the Indians, we understand that the colonists viewed them as not people but savages because of their involvement with the wilderness. And this term of being savage generally led to the belief that the Natives practiced devilish-like religion. Rowlandson explains in her Preface, “It is a solemn sight to see so many Christians lying in their blood, some here, and some there, like a company of sheep torn by wolves, all of them stripped naked by a company of hell-hounds, roaring, singing, ranting, and insulting, as if they would have torn our very hearts out…”3 She details them as “hell hounds” suggesting that the Indians were allies of Satan. Throughout Rowlandson’s account and according to the belief system of the colonists, the Natives were instruments of Satan because they did everything he “expectedly” told them to do. Rowlandson had such a deep hatred for the Native Americans that she “chooses rather to be killed by them than taken alive.” 3 This view of the English considering themselves superior to the Indians because of different structure of societies in was primarily the reason that contributed to the most significant misunderstanding between them. This eventually led to unfair stereotypes of one another. Thomas Morton an early leader of a community at Mount Wollaston describes, “If we do not judge amiss of these savages in accounting them…witches some correspondence they have with Devil out of all doubt”2 Morton condemns their conjuring tricks because their religious beliefs amounted to devil worship. Because they had incorrect beliefs, they were supposedly savages. The Natives Americans had an animistic religion - in which animals had godlike qualities. The colonists did not agree with this form of religious practice because of their belief in monotheistic religion. A different source by Father Jean de Brebeuf writes, “ They say that a certain women called Eataenics is the one who made earth and man…but having pointed out to them, by means of a little globe that we had brought, that there is only one world, they remain without reply.”2 Father Brebeuf explains how the Indians belief in Eataensic and her assistant Jouskeha as the creators of the world was not like the belief of the Christians. He also says that they found it unacceptable that they have an excessive greed during feasts, which was very different from the colonists’ ways of living. He describes their virtuous beliefs supposedly as vicious. These differences between the two societies led to a huge misunderstanding of their beliefs. Mary Rowlandson’s accounts tend to make the colonists views of the Indians as cruel and uncivilized, but her expectations were not quite like other colonial Europeans.
Many other colonials had a different perspective of the Natives. Bartolome de las Casas, a catholic priest, writes “I believe that the Indians were totally deprived of their freedom and were put in the harshest, fiercest, most horrible servitude and captivity which no one who has not seen it can understand.”2 Las Casas writes critically about the Spanish treatment of the Indians because he believed in the freedom of the Indians. He wanted their freedom because just like everyone else they were human beings also. He wanted people to know of the cruelty that was happening with the Indians. It is true that Thomas Morton had negative views of the Indians, but he also had positive ones. He writes, “The Natives of New England are accustomed to build them houses much like the wild Irish…they lived so poorly in a rich country…they supplied with all manner of needful things for the maintenance of life and livelihood…”2 He admired the harmony of Natives society and how they built their houses very resourcefully to keep them warm. He adored how they treated their guest with such hospitality and warmness between each
other. He commended the fact that unlike the Europeans they were obsessed with consuming extra merchandise for their benefit. They lived a freedom life before the contact with the colonists. Like Thomas Morton, Father Jean de Brebeuf had negative views of the Indians, but he also had some positive ones. Father Jean de Brebeuf writes, “I find in their marriage customs two things that greatly please me... They believe in immortality of the soul…”2 He likes how they were so determined and respected their culture, customs and traditions. He found their outlook on marriage customs pleasing and acceptable. Also the fact that they do not marry their relatives was very appealing to him. These were some of the positive point of views that European colonist had on the Natives, but Mary Rowlandson makes it seem like they all hated and despised the Indians. Mary Rowlandson explains in narrative, A Narrative of the Captivity and Removes of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson also known as The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, that the British colonists believed of themselves as “God’s Children” while visioning the Indians as worshippers of Satan. This difference of view of one another led to a huge misunderstanding between the two societies. The Natives denied Christianity and practiced a different form of religion, which in the colonists’ eyes was wrong and sinful. But this was only half of the truth. The colonists never thought from the Indians point of view and how they felt of them invading their land and destroying their families. Mary’s expectations of the Natives did not match everyone’s view. Many others admired and praised the way the Indians functioned their societies. The colonists had no rights to invade the Indians land and snatch everything they had from them. Keeping this intact it can easily be seen that the colonist were at fault.
On February 10, 1675, Mary Rowland was captured in Lancaster, Massachusetts. While being held captive, she narrated her experiences and tried to affirm her Puritan beliefs throughout her survival of being in captivity. She’d rather go with the “ravenous Beasts” than die because she wanted to “declare” of what was happening to her throughout her journey (70). Mary Rowlandson believed God was omniscient, forgiving, and omnipotent and it shaped her perception of the world in an affirmative way throughout all the chaos and suffering.
To many of the English colonists, any land that was granted to them in a charter by the English Crown was theirs’, with no consideration for the natives that had already owned the land. This belittlement of Indians caused great problems for the English later on, for the natives did not care about what the Crown granted the colonists for it was not theirs’ to grant in the first place. The theory of European superiority over the Native Americans caused for any differences in the way the cultures interacted, as well as amazing social unrest between the two cultures.
On February 20, 1676, Mary and her three children were taken captive in their home during a raid of the Native Americans uprising known as King Philip’s War along with 23 other people. Her children were the ages 14, 10 and 6. Sarah was 6; she died in captivity due to her wounds. She also lost her sister, brother-in-law, nieces and nephews. Of the 23 people who were captured in the raid, thirteen of them were Rowlandson family members.
In “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson,” Mary Rowlandson, a Puritan mother from Lancaster, Massachusetts, recounts the invasion of her town by Indians in 1676 during “King Philip’s War,” when the Indians attempted to regain their tribal lands. She describes the period of time where she is held under captivity by the Indians, and the dire circumstances under which she lives. During these terrible weeks, Mary Rowlandson deals with the death of her youngest child, the absence of her Christian family and friends, the terrible conditions that she must survive, and her struggle to maintain her faith in God. She also learns how to cope with the Indians amongst whom she lives, which causes her attitude towards them to undergo several changes. At first, she is utterly appalled by their lifestyle and actions, but as time passes she grows dependent upon them, and by the end of her captivity, she almost admires their ability to survive the harshest times with a very minimal amount of possessions and resources. Despite her growing awe of the Indian lifestyle, her attitude towards them always maintains a view that they are the “enemy.”
The Native Americans were the earliest and only settlers in the North American continents for more than thousands of years. Like their European counterparts, the English colonists justified the taking of their territories was because the natives were not entitled to the land because they lacked a work ethic in which shows that the colonists did not understand the Native Americans system of work and ownership of property. They believed the “Indians seemed to lack everything the English identified as civilized” (Takaki, Pg. 33). Because the settlers were living far away from civilizations, to ensure that they were civilized people, the settlers had negative images of the Native Americans so that they would not be influenced and live like the how the natives do, ensuring that these groups are savages who are uncivilized. Many began to believe this was God’s plans for them to civilize the country in which many would push westward and drive the Indians out to promote civilization and progress. While the United States was still in its early stages of development,
Mary Rowlandson was captured from her home in Lancaster, Massachusetts by Wampanoag Indians during King Phillip’s War. She was held captive for several months. When she was released she penned her story, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. During much of her story she refers to the Indians as savage beasts and heathens but at times seems admire them and appreciate their treatment of her. Mary Rowlandson has a varying view of her Indian captors because she experienced their culture and realized it was not that different from Puritan culture.
Thomas Morton wrote about the Native Americans and their way of life while the colonist slowly populated the Americas. Native American’s living styles, religious views, and the relations the Indians had with the colonist are a few of the things that came across when you heard about the Indians during the time the colonist inhabited the Americas.
When the colonists came to America, they classified the Native Americans as complete brutal savages. But was that a correct assumption? The Native Americans lived a life that was a complete opposite from the way that the Europeans were accustomed to. The Native Americans believed that the land was shared by everyone and not one person could own it. The Native Americans also had a polytheistic religion which completely went against the beliefs of the colonists. The colonists viewed the Native Americans as savages and barbarians because their ways of living were different.
In Mary Rowlandson, “A Captivity Narrative”, Rowlandson recounts her experiences as a captive of the Wampanoag tribe. The tribe took captives from Lancaster in 1676 because of the ongoing violent altercations between the English colonists and Native Americans during King Philip’s War. Since many of the Native Americans brethren had fallen in battle, they saw it fit to take English folk captive and use them to take the place of their fallen brethren, trading/ransom pieces, or killing them in revenge. This was becoming a common practice for the Native Americans to attack villages and in result, some English started fleeing the area or started to retaliate. Rowlandson was a Puritan wife and mother, in her
“A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” by Mary Rowlandson is a short history about her personal experience in captivity among the Wampanoag Indian tribe. On the one hand, Mary Rowlandson endures many hardships and derogatory encounters. However, she manages to show her superior status to everyone around her. She clearly shows how her time spent under captivity frequently correlates with the lessons taught in the Bible. Even though, the colonists possibly murdered their chief, overtook their land, and tried to starve the Native Americans by burning down their corn, which was their main source of food, she displays them as demonizing savages carrying out the devil's plan. There are many struggles shown during the story, both physical and emotional, but her greatest struggle is her ability to prove the satanic nature of the Indians without diminishing her reputation, but, instead, elevating herself into a martyr-like figure. From beginning to end, Mrs. Rowlandson strives to display that she is an immaculate Puritan, that within the Indian tribe and the Puritan community she has superiority, and that the Indians are barbaric creatures possessing satanic dangers.
The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson is a personal account, written by Mary Rowlandson in 1682, of what life in captivity was like. Her narrative of her captivity by Indians became popular in both American and English literature. Mary Rowlandson basically lost everything by an Indian attack on her town Lancaster, Massachusetts in 1675; where she is then held prisoner and spends eleven weeks with the Wampanoag Indians as they travel to safety. What made this piece so popular in both England and America was not only because of the great narrative skill used be Mary Rowlandson, but also the intriguing personality shown by the complicated character who has a struggle in recognizing her identity. The reoccurring idea of food and the word remove, used as metaphors throughout the narrative, could be observed to lead to Mary Rowlandson’s repression of anger, depression, and realization of change throughout her journey and more so at the end of it.
The Native Americans were referred to as “savages” and the English in their words expressed their fear of them. One could also take the Native Americans’ nature as being shy because upon the English spotting a few of them near the water they quickly ran away (Bradford 59). This was probably because the Native Americans had never seen anyone other than themselves. They were shown to be intelligent people who not only farmed but also built houses (Bradford 60). However, the English also implied the Native Americans to be mean people because they stated that one of the reasons for building large fires was to “…defend them from any sudden assaults of the savages” (Bradford 61). Nevertheless, it was not long until the Native Americans did attack the English and in their minds, it was for no reason. The recurring theme was that the English were always cautious of the Native Americans because they feared they would attack (Bradford 62).
Mary Rowlandson was a pretentious, bold and pious character. Her narrative did not make me feel sorry for her at all, which is strange since she really did go through a lot. During the war, the Narragansett Indians attacked Lancaster Massachusetts, and burned and pillaged the whole village. During the siege Mary and her six year old child were shot, she watched her sister and most of her village either burn or get shot. She was kept as a captive, along with her three children and taken with the Narragansett’s on their long retreat. The exposition of the story is set immediately. The reader is perfectly aware of Missus Rowlandson’s status and religious beliefs. She constantly refers to the Narragansetts in an incredibly condescending way, to the point that you know that she does not even consider them human. She paints them as purely evil pe...
In her account, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, Rowlandson
The captivity narrative is one of the first styles of literature that was ever birthed from the “new world.” This specific style of literature perfectly catered to what kind of information the folks in England were hungry for. It was real life accounts of an individual’s experience in a mysterious land that England wanted to read about. Scholars have debated whether some captivity narratives have been fabricated to adhere to what the public demanded however the majority of the narratives share the same exact traits as one another whether they are deemed trustworthy or not. The accounts of John Smith and Mary Rowlandson differ in degrees of authenticity, but both hold traits that are parallel with one another.