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Write a 3-4 paper on Mary Rowlandson’s autobiography, A True History of Captivity and Restoration about how she is a victimized, spiritually fallen woman who regains her sense of devotional direction by submitting to a trial of faith and then writing a spiritual autobiography. Your thesis should contain your characterization of Rowlandson’s voice---HOW IS SHE WRITING/PRESENTING HERSELF--and your sense of WHY she writes this way. What does it do for her? What does it say about how she wants to present herself as an author? What does it say about how she wants to position herself relative to her audience? What does it say about how she wants to position herself relative to the natives?
Hello and thank you for your question in regards to Mary Rowlandson's autobiography, what experts and analysts are saying about her writing, how she presents herself, and why she writes the way she does. In short, Mary Rowlandson was a housewife and mother of three that was captured by Native Americans in the town of Lancaster in 1676. She wrote a single literary work to tell the story of her eleven week captivity. She writes the narrative in two voices, one portraying her as a victim, while the other shows her as a victorious and strong survivor. She portrays herself in the narrative as a good Christian woman that puts her religion first regardless of her hardships. This is to ensure she remains respectable in the Puritan society.
METHODOLOGY
I have ensured to limit my resources to reputable sources and reports that include expert analysis such as Bridgewater State University Report and UKEssays. I first began by providing an autobiography of her life prior to being captured. Then, I have included information on her captivity, before proceeding to how she is perceived and how experts are analyzing her narrative. I have ensured to include the voices used in her writing as well as her overall goal. I have also included how her work has heavily influenced the perception of the Native American population in the times to follow.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Mary Rowlandson was born in 1637 in Somerset, England. She was the author of a single work " The Soveraignty & Goodness of God, Together with the Faithfulness of His Promises Displayed; Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson" in 1682. This was a tale of her eleven week captivity by the Algonquian Natives in Massachusetts. Mary was brought to America by her parents as a child to the town of Salem in, what was then, the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1653, her family relocated to the new frontier village of Lancaster.
Three years after their move, Mary married Joseph Rowlandson, who became the town's first regular minister. They first had a child named Mary, who lived for only three years; their other children were Joseph, Mary, and Sarah. At the time of their capture, their children were aged 14, 10, and 6 years old.
In February of 1676, a group of native Americans attacked the town of Lancaster during King Phillip's War. As many of the local people sought refuge at the Rowlandson home, the attackers seized their home and took 24 captives, including Mary and her three children. Mary was injured during the attack but did survive; however, her youngest child passed away a week after they were taken. Mary was separated from her children and was held captive for eleven weeks, suffering from starvation, physical abuse, and other hardships. During her captivity, a stolen bible that was given to her by one of her captors was one of her tools of survival as she had a strong faith in God.
Mary was able to sew and knit which helped her in receiving better treatment than some of the other captives. In May 1676, May was ransomed back to her husband for £20. Her two surviving children were also returned sometime after that. Her husband passed away in 1678, and around which time, she wrote her story. It was published four times in its first year and was the first of its genre at the time.
In 1679, Mary re-married to Captain Samuel Talcott, who died in 1691. Mary lived as a widow for 20 years after before passing away herself at 1711. Her work remains to be highly regarded today as one of the best literary works in its genre.
PUBLIC PERCEPTION & ANALYSIS
Rowlandson's narrative was the first in this genre and many critics believe that it is the best one of its type ever written. Analysts also respect the narrative for what it reveals and how it portrays Puritan and Native American cultures. Rowlandson give a first-person perspective into the environment of captivity. The narrative also provides an insight into her views on the native population, both before and after the events from her Puritan religion.
Rowlandson is at first shocked and appalled at the native’s lifestyle; however, towards the end of her captivity, she develops a sense of admiration to their abilities to survive with limited food and resources. Yet, she did still see them as her enemy and as a lower race. She presents herself as a Christian woman in the narrative as she conveys to the reader her strong religious belief. Rowlandson also demeans the native's religion in her writing, which reflects ignorance towards those who are different from her. Furthermore, Mary reflects upon her life during captivity and questions her choices as she believed God might have been punishing her. However, following her release, she returned to the same life she had before, and with the same narrow mindset.
Experts believe that Rowlandson's goal in writing her story was not to convey how her hardships have changed her life, but rather that she remained the same and was true to her faith. As such, she was trying to prove to the Puritan society that she had always put religion first. Analysts believe that this is why she portrayed the natives in such a gruesome manner and kept on mentioning God in the narrative.
Additionally, a female voice, such as hers, is restricted in those times and her writing had to convey her events within the borders of religion and what a good wife should be. Therefore, it is believed that her narrative may not be a complete accurate account of events in efforts to ensure her status in the Puritan society remains respectable. Rowlandson also makes repeated references to the Bible in her narrative, making it similar to pilgrimage stories that were popular at the time. In the narrative, she also reflects the role of woman. An example of this is the role of a mother as she writes about her children, and the death of her youngest.
Rowlandson uses two voices to write the narrative. One portrays her as a victim who regains her faith to survive, while the second shows her as being a strong and resilient survivor that is favoured by God. Moreover, her writing indicates that she is trying to position herself as an equal to her readers as she remains to be a faithful believer within the Puritan community. In contrast, she distances herself from the native population and their religion as she describes it in ridiculing manners within her narrative.
From another perspective, Rowlandson's account of her captivity was used as grounds to remove Native Americans from lands settled on by the English. Furthermore, by the nineteenth century, the concept of white people, especially women, suffering by the hands of the natives was used in war propaganda to raise support and finances.
CONCLUSION
To summarize, Mary Rowlandson was a housewife and mother of three that was captured by Native Americans in the town of Lancaster in 1676. She wrote a single literary work to tell the story of her eleven week captivity. She writes the narrative in two voices, one portraying her as a victim, while the other shows her as a victorious and strong survivor. She portrays herself in the narrative as a good Christian woman that put her religion first regardless of her hardships to ensure she remains respectable in the Puritan society.
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