Outline #1
An Adaptivity Narrative
Evan Augenstein
HIST 1151
Professor Hurford
29 August 2017
An Adaptivity Narrative
Background -
A Captivity Narrative
Primary Source
Mary Rowlandson was a colonist living in Lancaster, Massachusetts in the late 1600s. She was married to Joseph Rowlandson, a minister, and was the mother of four children. Lancaster was raided by Native Americans, and Rowlandson was held captive for three months until ransomed off (Shi and Mayer, 40).
Originally published in 1682, A Captivity Narrative was written during King Philip’s War. During this time, bands of indians attacked several settlements on the American frontier, one of those being Lancaster, Massachusetts
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(Shi and Mayer 40). Rowlandson was a puritan colonist (Shi and Mayer, 40), and the Puritans feared and resented the Native Americans; seeing them as evil savages. The original audience of the source would have been colonists, mostly Puritans, that lived in North America at the time. Rowlandson wrote about her experience as a captive of a Native American Tribe so that colonists could see what her time in captivity of the “savage,” “heathenous,” and mystical natives was like. Thesis - During a time when women were viewed as being weak, feeble-minded, and delicate, Mary Rowlandson showed amazing strength, competence, and adaptability. A wife and mother, Rowlandson was taken captive for three months, witnessed the death of her child and neighbors, and persevered through inhumane treatment. Three Insights on women/identity: Rowlandson showed emotional and physical strength under stressing circumstances and never capitulated. Reading about the hardship Rowlandson went through, I’ve observed not only her strength to withstand the hardship, but also her persistence to never lose hope of salvation. “It may be easily judged what a poor feeble condition we were in, there being not the least crumb… from Wednesday night to Saturday night, except only a little cold water.” (Shi and Mayer, 41) When Rowlandson was captured Native American relations with the English colonists was extremely low, with King Philip’s War resulting in many casualties. The fear and resentment lead to inhumane and barbaric treatment on both sides (Shi and Tindall, 73). Rowlandson’s account of her treatment while in captivity shows the harsh treatment she suffered and persevered through. Rowlandson persevered as a mother and never abandoned her children. Under hopeless circumstances, Rowlandson stayed with her son and held him for 9 days until his death, which showed me her devotedness as a mother. “Thus nine days I sat upon my knees, with my Babe in my lap, till my flesh was raw again; my child being even ready to depart this sorrowful world…” (Shi and Mayer, 41).
The circumstances that Rowlandson was in were grim, and the Native Americans had no pity for her or her son, nonetheless she stayed with him until he died.
Rowlandson’s beliefs stayed true to the Puritan society around her, however she showed that women are capable of both physical and emotional strength; contrary to popular belief at the time.
Rowlandson was a Puritan, however it is almost ironic to see her go back to a society that judges her inferior and weak when she probably endured more hardships than most Puritan men.
“... after my bearing and getting through so many difficulties: the indians stood laughing to see me staggering along: but in my distress the Lord gave me experience of the truth…” (Shi and Mayer, 43)
Puritan society placed a heavy focus on separate social roles of men and women. Women were given far less privileges than men because they were believed to be inferior (Shi and Tindall, 85). Rowlandson was a Puritan, and while she eventually escaped captivity, she was still in a society that treated her almost as a
captive. Mary Rowlandson was a puritan, wife, and mother and showed incredible physical and emotional strength during a society when women were believed to have neither. Works Cited Shi, David, and George Tindall. America: A Narrative History. Brief 10 ed., vol. 1, New York, NY, Norton & Company, 2016. Shi, David, and Holly Mayer. For the Record: A Documentary History of America. 6th ed., vol. 1, New York, NY, Norton & Company, 2016.
In constructing “ The Unredeemed Captive,” John Demos uses many styles of writing. One of the most pronounced styles used in this book is an argumentative style of writing. John Demos argues many points throughout the book and makes several contradictions to topics discussed previously in the work. John Demos also uses several major themes in the book, suck as captivity, kinship, negotiation, trade, regional and national development, and international relations. Each one of these themes, in my opinion, are what separate the book into its major sections.
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.
At the start of John Demos' book The Unredeemed Captive, a group of Native Americans attack the English town of Deerfield, kidnap a few of its people, and take them to Canada. On October 21, 1703, in response to the attacks, the "Reverend Mr." John Williams, the town's leader, writes to Joseph Dudley, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, for tax relief, funding to rebuild the fort, a prisoner exchange to free the captured residents, and soldiers to protect the town. Governor Dudley agrees to fulfill the reverend's requests, and stations 16 soldiers at the town's fort (Demos 1994, 11-13). In response to English counterattacks, Governor Pierre de Rigaud, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, begins to plan an February "expedition" of 48 French troops and 200 of France's "domiciled Indians." During the expedition, the soldiers destroy the town of Deerfield. Many of the residents that do not manage to flee or hide are killed or captured, including the reverend and his family. The troops then take the captured colonists to Canada, where they will be held hostage in an attempt to negotiate the release of many French prisoners under English control, including Vaudreuil's best "privateer," Pierre Maisonat, the infamous "Captain Baptiste" (Demos 1994, 15-19). In The Unredeemed Captive, Demos uses the incident at Deerfield as a lens to reveal the underlying political, cultural, and religious conflicts in colonist-Native American relations, and those between the European colonizing nations themselves.
John Putnam Demos, The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story of Early America (New York: Vintage Books, 1995)
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.
...e. She spent all day walking and carrying articles while the Indians rode horse back. Rowlandson was forced to weave for the Indians and give her clothing up for the comfort of the Indians. My head also was so light, that I usually reeled as I went, but I hope all those wearisome steps that I have taken are but a forwarding of me to the Heavenly rest (Rowlandson p. 43). Near the end of her eleven weeks of captivity Rowlandson wanted nothing more but to give up and let the Lord take her away. The Indians stood laughing to see me staggering along; but in my distress the Lord gave me experience of the truth and goodness of that promise (Rowlandson p. 51). Finally, after eleven long weeks of death, pain and suffering, the Indians gave heart. They leaded her near Boston where she would find some English men that helped reunites her husband to his long lost wife.
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.”
Rowlandson watches as her family members are killed and kidnapped by Indians. At the beginning of her story she says she used to think she would rather be killed than taken captive by Indians, but when the time comes, she changes her mind and is taken by the “ravenous beasts,” (238). Rowlandson has never been around Indians. She knows only what she has been told about Indians, which is to fear and hate them, because they are savages. She feels she is being taken from civilization into the wilderness.
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
During the 17th century, many Puritans set sail for New England in order to escape religious persecution and re-create an English society that was accepting of the Puritan faith. John Winthrop, an educated lawyer from England who later became governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was one of the first in North America to advocate Puritan ideals and lifestyle. Winthrop delivered his sermon A Model of Christian Charity, in hopes of encouraging his shipmates to establish a truly spiritual community abroad. Almost fifty years later, a Puritan named Mary Rowlandson, daughter of a wealthy landowner and wife of a minister, wrote A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, describing her 11-week captivity by native Indians after an attack on Lancaster. Rowlandson recounts her story with heroism and appreciation for God. Although John Winthrop and Mary Rowlandson were in entirely different situations when composing their literary works, both writings reflect many of the same ideals that characterize the Puritan mind, such as the belief in God's mercy, the acceptance of one's condition in life, and the importance of a strong community.
“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.
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...
One Puritan woman, Anne Hutchinson, was believed to have predictions from God. This infuriated the Puritans because they did not believe in the idea of God giving her visions and thoughts. They believed that Satan was the one giving her these visions and thoughts. Consequently, the Puritans then banished her into the wilderness outside of Massachusetts Bay. This shows that the Puritans treated anyone who did not totally agree with them as an outcast to their society.
In her account, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, Rowlandson