Mary Rowlandson
Essay Preview: Mary Rowlandson
Report this essay
Mary Rowlandson was born in a Puritan society. Her way of was that of an orthodox Puritan which was to be very religious and see all situations are made possible by God. She begins her writing by retelling a brutal description of the attack on Lancaster by the Natives. Rowlandson spends enough time interacting with the Natives to realize these people live normal, secular lives. She had the opportunity work for a profit which was not accepted when she lived as devout Puritan women in Puritan colony. Mary Rowlandson knows that she must expose the good nature of the Natives and she must rationalize her “boldness” through quoting the Bible.
In order to be accepted by Puritan she first disguises her feelings of the Native by using terms like “murderous wretches”(68) and “merciless heathen”(69) to refer to the Natives.. To grab the attention of the reader through the full description of her situation and used such narrative as, “, the Indians shot so thick that the bullets rattled against the house as if one had taken an handful of stones and threw them so that we were fain to give back.”(Rowlandson 68). Rowlandson intended to lure her Puritan readers by first depicting the Natives as beasts which in turn led the readers interest of her accounts on. In order to justify her “boldness” she would mention the Lords name like so, “Oh, the doleful sight that now was to behold at this house! Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolation He has made in the earth. Of thirty-seven persons who were in this one house none escaped either present death or bitter captivity save only one,”(69). This upcoming particular piece of text, she specifically shows that she is human and chose her life over an orthodox Puritan perspective. The quotation also signifies her slight affiliation with the Natives by mentioning “we”. Rowlandson writes,
“I had often before this said that if the Indians should come I should choose rather to be killed by them than taken alive, but when came to the trial, my mind changed; their glittering weapons so daunted my spirits that I chose rather to go along with those (as I may say) ravenous beasts than that moment to end my days. And that I may the better declare what happened to me during the grievous captivity, I shall particularly speak of the several removes we had up and down the wilderness. . . .”(69).
Essentially, when the time came her faith wasnt strong enough which foreshadows the following events.
The first time Rowlandson wept was during her stay in the Eight Remove. “There one of them asked me why I wept; I could hardly tell what to say, yet I answered they would kill me. No, said he, none will hurt you. Then came one of them and gave me two spoonfuls of meal to comfort me, and another gave me half pint of peas which was more worth than many bushels at another time.”(71). The Natives showed her great affection with was not expected of them from her puritanical views. Although she knew no harm would come to her she expected to leave “them” as soon as possible.
According to the Puritans, women were only to attend to household duties and not to appear in the public sphere. Rowlandson does more than she was able to do in her old habitat; she began to work for profit and used her special skills. “During my abode in this place Phillip spoke to me to make a shirt for his boy, which I did, for which he gave me a schilling. I offered the money to my master, but he bade me keep it, and with it I bought a piece of horse-flesh. Afterwards he asked me to make him a cap for his boy, for which he invited me to dinner.” (71). Rowlandson vindicated her work by her obvious need to stay fully nourished and healthy. She accepted numerous dinner invitations and gifts of beans, meat and cake. Conversely, some of the “bad” Natives had lied to her when she asked of her sons welfare; they said he was roasted and cut into pieces and he made good meat. Then she had thought they knew nothing more than to lie. “Yet upon this and the like occasions I hope it is not too much to say with Job, Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, oh, ye my friends, for the hand of the Lord has touched me.” (72). Upon mentioning the Lord has touched her, she refers to the Natives as being her “friends” and shows a slight change of heart from the beginning