Mary Rowlandson The Sovereignty And Goodness Of God Summary

In Mary Rowlandson's 1682 narrative "The Sovereignty and Goodness of God", she tells about her experience as a Puritan captive during King Phillips War which is accounted for being the bloodiest war to take place in New England almost thirty-four decades ago. This bloody battle was between Native Americans and English colonists, but led to an Indian attack on Lancaster in February of 1675. In fact, due to this attack Rowlandson witnessed the injuring, killing and captivity of a large group of people. Not only did she witness the death, of her neighbors, friends and associates, but also that youngest daughter Sarah. Rowlandson had four editions to her narrative published in 1682, however the one read in class includes an introduction written

These similar experiences could have been anything from a loss of a loved one or home to being verbally and nonverbally mistreated. "Though confined to a corner of New England and lasting little more than a year, Metacoms War took the lives of about two thousand five hundred of the English, roughly 40 and 5 percent, respectively, of the two peoples' population."(4) Moreover, during the attack on Lancaster, Native Americans kidnapped about twenty two Lancaster, Massachusetts natives. As the days in captivity continued, these people were forced to adopt the Native lifestyle .They were forced to either starve or sacrifice by eating the things that they normally wouldn't have. The same individuals were also expected to take care of their wounds with almost anything they found on their journey. For instance, Mary ate groundnuts, horse gut, bear meat; as well as skunks and rattle snakes. She quickly learned that taking advantage of natures available resources is what she had to do treat her wounds and stay alive. In the narrative, Mary recalls the time where she had to use oak leaves that were provided to her by Robert Pepper a fellow captive in order to treat her wounded side . Women during Rowlandson's time didn't have the privilege of voicing their opinion too often, therefore she represented a vast majority of the female population. There were other females who were held captive, but not all wrote narratives about their experiences. This narrative could have inspired other people to consider writing about their experiences. There are many ways to tell a story, so not everyone have to write a narrative