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Mary rowlandson captivity critical evaluation
Mary rowlandson a narrative of the captivity essay
Mary Rowlandson narrative of the captivity
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What stands out the most to me about Mary Rowlandson’s depiction of her captivity is her humility through it all. In many ways I found her example to be encouraging to me as I read of the trials that she faced because through it all she never failed in her faith. Her humility is apparent as she discusses her situation with her son. It is clear how much she has lost and it would be understandable had she and her son chosen to become angry at God but instead she chooses to, like Job, show humility when he says, “naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return… blessed be the name of the Lord” (The Eighth Remove). She recognizes that everything she previously had belonged to God and she chose an attitude of surrender by admitting
that it was all the Lord’s to take away. Even when she was feeling discouraged and seemed to get little comfort from the Bible she acknowledges that, “God did not leave me to have my impatience work towards himself, as if his ways were unrighteous; but I knew that he had laid upon me less than I deserved” (The Thirteenth Remove). Although some of the accounts of her captivity were troubling to read ultimately her faith can be an example to us which is why I found her steadfastness and humility toward God to be inspiring.
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.
Mary was sold as a slave and her two children went to other masters. Mary Rowlandson was ransomed at ₤20 just three months after she was captured. She was returned to Princeton, Massachusetts on May 2, 1676. Soon after that, her two surviving children were returned.
Rowlandson's theme is very simple; the capture and return of herself by the Indians. It was a strange and amazing dispensation that the Lord should so afflict his precious servant, and Handmaid (Rowlandson p. 22). She struggles to find answers in why she was captured and tormented for eleven weeks, when she shows such a high religious fate. Her theme shows that she begged God for mercy, not to be free but to have strength to travel each day. Before she was captured she was a very religious person; being the wife of Reverend Joseph Rowlandson and mother to their offspring. God was in her daily life moreover in her kids' lives. After she was captured her religious life did not change, even though she was put through hellish conditions God still was her right hand man.
...en she goes home to her family and friends, her attitude toward Indians in general changes greatly. At first, living with Indians is the most appalling thought that she could ever have. Over time, she realizes that she must somewhat befriend them in order to survive adequately. In the end, she even appreciates the Indians, and the experiences she has had with them. Her captivity also brings her closer to God, because during every hardship, she turns to her faith to help her through it. Her time with the Indians also gave her the affliction that she had always hoped for. Mary lived in prosperity before, and had too many comforts of the world around her. The journeys with the Indians give her a kind of reality check, because she sees that not everyone lives in prosperity as she did. The biggest lesson that she learns is to “look beyond present and smaller troubles, and be quieted under them, as Moses said, Exodus.xiv.13, Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.”
Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano both had many obstacles in a certain period of life. From the different narratives, trials and tribulations were brought upon both. Taken from the life of which accustomed to and put in sometimes very harsh conditions had an antagonistic effect. Despite it all, Rowlandson and Equiano were able to get through by keep faith in God, the word of the bible, and spiritualism in itself. After all of the trials and tribulations Rowlandson and Equiano were able to escape and look back on all the things they went through. Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano can be compared and contrasted by family life, conditions while captured, and moment of rescue.
God displays his protective powers in various ways. She is shown to be in despair numerous times. So many things happen that keep chipping away at her spirit. The Indians come and ransack the town, basically burning it to the ground. She is separated from all of her children except for one and even in that moment, her daughter dies in her arms after being wounded by a gunshot. Rowlandson herself is injured and is forced to keep travelling despite her conditions. Chaos seems to surround her at every angle. She is initially given a very miniscule amount of water to sustain her on the trip along with some nuts and crumbs. Rowlandson states that “… still the Lord still upheld me...” and also that “he hurt me one hand, and proceeded to heal me with the other”. She believes that due to her people being unfaithful, the Lord is now punishing them so that they can repent. But her being puritan and a chosen one, instead of being killed off, she is preserved and is allowed to get back in God’s good standing. At one point she even thinks of attempting suicide and ending all the misery but she states that thanks to God, she came back her senses and reason to know that she couldn’t go through with such an act. God was using the Indians as agents to punish the Puritans and in doing so, whenever the opportunity for freedom arrived and for some reason the opportunity was not seen
...ve Indians. From the copious use of examples in Winthrop's work, and the concise detail in Rowlandson's narrative, one can imbibe such Puritans values as the mercy of God, place in society, and community. Together, these three elements create a foundation for Puritan thought and lifestyle in the New World. Though A Model of Christian Charity is rather prescriptive in its discussion of these values, Rowlandson's captivity narrative can certainly be categorized as descriptive; this pious young woman serves as a living example of Winthrop's "laws," in that she lives the life of a true Puritan. Therefore, both 17th century works are extremely interrelated; in order to create Winthrop's model community, one must have faith and closely follow Puritan ideals, as Rowlandson has effectively done in her A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson.
Even though this meant that she would not be able to see or interact with her children for all that time. The pain that she feels is evident when she says, “ At last I heard the merry laugh of children, and presently two sweet little faces were looking up at me, as though they knew I were there, and were conscious of the joy that imparted. How I longed to tell them I was there”(97). She tolerated being locked away in an enclosed dark space for 7 long years in order to free her children from the current master that owned them as slaves, showing how having someone to put ahead of yourself makes you stronger and more resilient as a
For instance, Mary Rowlandson was a highly spiritual Puritan woman and looked to God for help, while Olaudah Equiano was self-reliant and believed that the only person who could really help him was himself. The Puritan belief at the time was that whatever happened to them while on earth, happened because it was God’s will. If they were to find themselves in a situation that was unfortunate or hurtful, they interpreted it as a sign that they were being punished for not being the best Puritan that they could be. This is precisely how Rowlandson viewed her captivity. During her ordeal, Rowlandson handles her captivity by being very spiritually-reliant.
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.
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...
She wrote how she tried to acknowledge the Sabbath day while in captivity. “I told them it was the Sabbath day and desired them to let me rest, and told them I would do as much more tomorrow, to which they answered me they would break my face” (Rowlandson)
By diving into the authors own experiences the theme of self vs. other is strongly expressed in both narratives. Rowlandson’s experience begins with her capture of her and her children; however, throughout the entire narrative she is fighting her faith, who she is, and the captors. She talks about having to deal with the vanity of this world stating, “I have seen the extreme vanity of this world: One hour I have been in health and wealthy, wanting nothing. But the next hour in sickness and wounds, and death, having nothing but sorrow and affliction.” (Rowlandson, 288) Rowlandson had to battle the vain in the world that had taught her a certain way to believe and have faith; however, this battle created a way for her to find herself and better understand the power faith could have on her and her family. The trial allowed Rowlandson to truly know, “…what affliction meant…” which allowed Rowlandson the ability to conquer the view of self vs. other. Rowlandson became independent on her abilities, her faith, and her own qualities. Olaudah Equiano shows the the...
When reading a slave narrative it helps readers get an idea of the personal torment that slaves went through. No one will ever exactly know to the full extent of the hardships they faced. The authors of the slave narratives were writing them in hopes that word would spread of what they were going through, and their initial aim was for people of their time to know what was going on and to try and find a way to put an end to it. In Mary Prince’s narrative The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave she gives her readers a great look into the punishments she went through and punishments other slaves went through.
The story of Mary Rowlandson tells of a much more difficult experience than that of Hannah Duston. Mary Rowlandson narrates her own story so you know of everything she feels and thinks throughout it. However, “The Duston Family” is told by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne paints a picture of the person he thought Hannah Duston was, but, does not know what she was thinking nor feeling when she was going through her journey. This makes it much harder to understand the things she does.