Cultural Chameleon An Essay on Mary Rowlandson as a go-between figure amidst a Puritan background in her work “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” Although Mary Rowlandson’s narrative speaks greatly of Puritan faith and culture, the Puritan lens is lifted and at some points entirely neglected. Thus telling not only the story of the faithful women withstanding and surviving savages, but one of cultural contact and assimilation. Rowlandson’s stray from a Puritan narrative and the establishment of her as a go-between figure accompanied by substantial character development will be explored specifically in “The 19th Remove”. Mary Rowlandson’s work „A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson“, …show more content…
When “ The [old] squaw […] [shows] kindness” (p. 256) to her, she does not interpret this act of good fortune as an act of God’s grace, exemplified by a biblical reference as she does on other occasions. This seemingly small gesture shows a great amount of development of her character, acknowledging the Natives for the first time as compassionate human beings. Furthermore, Rowlandson suddenly portrays her Native mistress differently, “ A severe and proud dame she was, bestowing every day in dressing herself neat […].” (p. 256). Not only is she witnessing and recording Native customs, she is describing the Native women in a respectful, almost admiring manner. In contrast to earlier accounts she humanizes her by using positively connoted words such as “ proud”. This change of tone is essential to her narrative throughout the entire paragraph. A strong case for her altered narrative can be made for Rowlandson’s venture into economic relations with the Natives. She starts a small trade business exchanging labor “knit him three pair of stockings” (p. 256) for goods “for which I had a hat” (p. 256). This aspect of her text brings forth another aspect of cultural contact, stripping away notions of superiority by Rowlandson and turning into a relationship relying purely on exchanging goods. As a result Rowlandson becomes a productive part of the Native …show more content…
Rowlandson is asked to sit “ among them, as [she] was wont to do, as their manner is.” (p. 257), showing that she is both familiar with Native customs as well as incorporated into their life. This display of Native respect towards her and vice versa is further explored in a later passage, when she is allowed to witness a Native ritual, “ before they went to that fight they got a company together to powwow.” (p. 257). Instead of leaving or not paying attention, Rowlandson observes and takes note of every detail, demonstrating a certain amount of interest and respect for their cultural
Anne Hutchinson's efforts, according to some viewpoints, may have been a failure, but they revealed in unmistakable manner the emotional starvation of Puritan womanhood. Women, saddened by their hardships, depressed by their religion, denied an open love for beauty...flocked with eagerness to hear this feminine radical...a very little listening seems to have convinced them that this woman understood the female heart far better than did John Cotton of any other male pastor of the settlements. (C. Holliday, pps. 45-46.)
Mary Rowlandson experienced a kidnapping however she survived that horrific incident. After that occurrence in her life, that led her to renew her faith in Puritanism. After surviving, the kidnapping Mary returned home to begin writing the account. When Mary was being held captive, that inspired her to write about the
In the times of colonies when land was untouched there was a distinct hatred between the native Indians and the new colonists. As one reads the essay: A True History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, written by Mary Rowlandson in 1682, one will understand this hatred. Although the Indians captured Mary Rowlandson, with the faith of God she was safely returned. The reader learns of her religious messages and how she turns to God for safety and strong will. One sees how her Puritan beliefs are of the strong New England Puritans way of life. The reader also understands through her words how she views the Indians and their way of life.
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.
When she is first taken, Rowlandson is very adamant about noticing the difference between civilized Puritan life and the savage Indians. They eat horse and bear meat, things she finds uncivilized. When the Indians give her food, she often has it stolen from her by other Indians. The first week of her captivity she did not eat very much. She wrote that if was “very hard to get down their filthy trash,” (243). She was very ungrateful of the food they gave her, when they did not have to give her any at all. After she had been captive for a while she began to appreciate the food she was given. When she does eat and enjoy the uncivilized food the Indians give her, s...
... She undergoes a change and is positive but doesn’t capitalize on the Native Americans transformations that show they have had some change of heart. As the captivity theme got popular, two authors named Susanna Rowson and Charles Brockden Brown used it to their advantage in creating their own captivity narratives based on fiction. Mary Rowlandson’s story happened to her and they just wanted to write about it. The Native Americans reputations have been destroyed because of this theme and people are not realizing that captivity narratives are from an unfair time in the Native Americans culture.
Having analyzed Fell’s work, we can begin to trace the similarities and differences between the two texts and determine the superiority of the two. The Quaker women similarly stylized as works of prose as a means of conveying their subject matter across all audiences. The difference is that Mary Howgill does not use characters or figures from the Bible to strengthen her position the way Margaret Fell does; instead her allusions are a reference to particular quotes and phrases from the Bible that she uses to incriminate Oliver Cromwell and present a juxtaposition between Cromwell and Quakers. Her letter is structured entirely through her biblical allusions combined with fixed word connotations to invoke an emotional response from the reader. There is a visible difference in tone in comparison to Fell’s work; the words employed by Howgill are meant to penetrate the mind when read, it is in a dramatic way in its rhetoric while Fell’s tone is more articulate and formally based.
“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.
...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.
Interestingly although she feared and reviled the Indians she states that not one of them offered the least abuse of unchastity to her. Her captors never sexually molested or violated her. Rowlandson learned to adapt and strove to make it thought her captivity alive. She learned how to gather food for herself. Tolerate the ways of the Indians, and make clothes for the tribe. She even decided to stay with the Indians when given the chance to escape. “Rowlandson refused them choosing to stay put and let God choose when she was fully redeemed and ready to be released”
In the Salem, Massachusetts, the year of 1692 women were “puritans”. They dressed very modestly, kept their hair hidden, and were loyal to their husbands. The majority were stay at home wives. The young women would work for the older women and would get paid. Elizabeth Proctor, Abigail Williams, and Mary Warren each did one of those things. These women represent the archetypes of this story.
In her account, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, Rowlandson
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.”
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...
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.