UNIT 4

Mary Rowlandson

Learning objectives

In unit 4 you will:

— learn about the captivity narrative, and understand how Mary

Rowlandson created a prototype ofthe first distinctly American literary
genre, relying on her firsthand experience and conforming with the
conventions of the Puritan jeremiad;
— identify parallelisms in the European settlers’ depictions of the
indigenous peoples of America, so as to be aware of how such depictions
shaped Americanliterary representations of Natives and contributed to
the long-standing construct of “the imaginary Indian”;
— examinethe articulation of the modesof description, report, speech, and
comment in a narrative;
— analyze an example of Puritan plain style, and discover the subtext
hidden below the surface of the manifest text;
— establish connections among four prominent seventeenth-century
writers: John Smith, William Bradford, Anne Bradstreet, and Mary
Rowlandson.

Suggestions for how to proceed

Begin by studying the introduction to unit 4 (American Literature to 1900,

pages 61-66). Carefully read the brief extracts from Rowlandson’s captivity
narrative (pages 66-71), paying attention to the additional information
provided in the footnotes. The details about the term “groundnut” that are
iven in note 36 are expanded belowtheillustration of this plant which you
-will find at the end of the study unit (page 76). Answer the questionsforself-
evaluation (pages 71-73), going back to the selections from Rowlandson’s text
as many times as you need to, and then check your choices with the help of
the key (page 499). The following activity will assist you in completing the
fifteen exploratory questions that are presentedin this unit (pages 74-76).
34 A STUDY GUIDE FOR AMERICAN LITERATURETO 1900

Activity

Answering exploratory questions

Since the activity proposedfor unit 4 is exactly like the one you were assigned
in unit 1, you may want to review the three introductory paragraphs to that
section so as to apply an identical procedure when you answer and check the
exploratory questions of this fourth unit. If you compare the answers given
here with the ones you wereoffered in the first unit, you will realize that some
of these are longer in order to meet the needs of the majority of students, who
tend to concentrate on fewer issues and analyze them in greater depth as they
progress in the course. Beginners maybesatisfied with short answers to most
questions, but advanced learners often prefer to choose only the questions that
appeal to them, and devote more time and energyto their favorite selections.
Consequently, assuming that you may not be interested in answering every
single question posed in unit 4, you have been given rather detailed responses
to all of them. If you notice discrepancies between your own answersand the
ones you will find below, rememberthat the following suggested answers to
exploratory questions 1-15 (pages 74-76) are to be taken as examples or
samples, rather than as models to be closely imitated.

1. At the beginning of her Narrative, Mary Rowlandson rendered

predictable racist stereotypes of the Natives by calling them
“murderous wretches,” “wolves,” “hell-hounds” and “ravenous beasts.”
The simile she chose to depict the massacre of the colonists at the hands
of the raiding party—“like a company of sheep torn by wolves’”—
illustrated the hunter-predator myth very precisely. In contrast with the
colonists, whom she invariably called “Christians,” she referred to the
Natives as “the bloody heathen” and “those merciless heathen,”
ignoring the economic and political reasons they might have had to
undertake the assault. Furthermore, Rowlandson’s word choice to
report the attackers’ violent actions contributed to the dehumanizing
representation of the Natives (e.g. the phrase “the Indians gaping
before us with their guns, spears, and hatchets to devour us”).

2. The propaganda function of the immensely popular captivity

narratives was evident, for they did much more than merely entertain
readers. Such narratives projected stereotypes which supported the
religious and political aims of the colonists. Imagining the indigenous
inhabitants of the New World as beasts, rather than as human beings,
Unit 4: MARY ROWLANDSON 35

reinforced the perception that they did not deserve to keep the lands
they lived in. Furthermore, the publication of accounts that presented
the Natives as heathens, infidels, devil-worshippers, instruments or
agents of Satan’s bidding, and even actual devils in human guise,
helped to justify their extermination because it contributed to
considering them a formidable threat to the theocracy that the New
England Puritans sought to establish. The discourse of most captivity
narratives not only assuaged guilt about the side effects of the invasion
and subsequent colonial expansion, but staunchly endorsed the
appropriation of land and the annihilation of its inhabitants as if they
were religious duties undertaken to build the City of God onearth.
Despite the much higher numbers of indigenous people captured by
colonists, captivity narratives exclusively highlighted the relationship
between Indian captors and captive colonists, overlooking that this
phenomenonoccurred in both directions.

3. In the opening passage of her Narrative, Mary Rowlandson: 1. saw the

raiding party as a chaotic group of bloodthirsty savages collectively
characterized by lawless animality, 2. focused exclusively on the
destructive violence ofthe raiders, 3. highlighted the fact that she only
heard how the attackers “scornfully shouted, and hallowed” and were
“roaring, singing, ranting, and insulting,” but she did not report any
example of direct or indirect speech on their part, 4. underscored the
inability or unwillingness of the aggressors to trade or reach
agreements with their victims (she specifically recorded that one of
the attackers did not accept the money which he wasoffered by one of
the settlers who wanted to save his life), 5. mentioned various kinds of
weapons which the raiding party used to woundandkill the colonists,
6. emphasized the cruelty of the enemies toward children, and 7.
designated the Narragansetts with a number of derogatory names
(“murderous wretches,” “wolves,” “hell-hounds,” “ravenous beasts,”
“the bloody heathen,’ and “merciless heathen”). On the contrary, in
the “Ninth Remove” Mary Rowlandson: 1. saw the Narragansetts as
members of an organized society, and differentiated them as
individuals with distinctive human traits, 2. made plain how she
peacefully socialized with them in a number ofordinary situations
without ever being “offered the least imaginable miscarriage,” and
explicitly acknowledged their kindness, 3. revealed that she engaged
in conversation with them, and reported their exchange of views, 4.
underscored their ability and willingness to trade and reach
agreements (she specifically recorded that, in order to please her
36 A STUDY GUIDE FOR AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

master, she offered him the knife she got in return for the two shirts
she herself had made and traded), 5. mentioned that she obtained a
knife (which probably was to be used merely as a cutting instrument
rather than as a weapon), 6. emphasized the help she received to pay
a visit to her son, and 7. refrained from using any derogatory terms to
designate the Narragansetts, and simply referred to them as Indians.
The change in Rowlandson’s attitude toward the Narragansetts,
which is so obvious when comparing the introductory passage of her
Narrative (where they are perceived as diabolical savages) with the
section entitled “Ninth Remove” (where they are recognized as
ordinary human beings), probably came about through her close
interaction with these people. Curiously enough, she spent mostof her
Captivity at the service of Quanopen, who had been one of the hated
leaders of the attack on Lancaster, and who later became for
Rowlandson, according to her own words,“the best friend that I had
of an Indian.”

. Papoose: Native American baby. A term derived from the Narragansett

word papoos, which means“child.”
Squaw: Native American woman or wife. A term derived from the
Massachusett word squa, which means “young woman.” Although
Mary Rowlandson did not mean to be insulting, this term has often
been used in a disrespectful way and should be avoided because
nowadaysit is generally considered very offensive.
Wigwam:Hutor tent made by fastening skins, rush mats or sheets of
bark over a dome-shaped framework of poles. A term derived from the
Abenaki word wikewam, which means“house.”
Mary Rowlandson probably used these Algonquian words because
they were rather precise terms which had already entered the lexicon
of the English colonists and helped her to describe indigenousculture.
Such loanwords also gave a flavor of authenticity and accuracy to her
account.
From the selections included in unit 4 of American Literature to
1900 we can infer that Rowlandson became well-acquainted with the
daily life of the Narragansetts, for she was not imprisoned or otherwise
isolated, but dealt with various members of that community quite
unrestrictedly. In the “Fifth Remove”she indicated that they traveled as
a large group (“many hundreds”) carrying all their belongings. The
“Ninth Remove” contains specific allusions to the practice of bartering
(a knife for two shirts) and concrete examples of hospitality (offered on
different occasions by three compassionate women, who generously
Unit 4: MARY ROWLANDSON 37

give food and shelter to the captive, in spite of being strangers to her
and without expecting anything in return). Furthermore, this section
gives a glimpse of the mild treatment that some captives experienced
during their relatively unconstrained bondage. The last lines of the
“Ninth Remove”illustrate particularly well why some captives grew
to love their captors, and even opposed leaving them whengiven the
opportunity to do so, as was the case of Mary Jemison, Frances
Slocum, and Eunice Williams, all of whom resisted being rescued.
Other sections of Rowlandson’s Narrative, which have not been
includedin the selections of the coursebook,are likely to provide more
information about the ways of life of the Narragansetts, and by
extension, Native daily life.

5. Mary Rowlandson’s Narrative reveals the transformation of a bold

and determined woman whoresolves to cope with traumaand survive
by adaptation. She clearly understands that practical necessity will
force her to undertake a cultural crossover, and decides to iti
accommodate to what she once considered barbarian ways oflife.
She proves that she has learned to function in the alien milieu of the
Narragansetts whenshe barters her sewing skills for a knife, an action
by which she becomesa negotiator, assuming a new economic role
that is recognized by her captors. Likewise, her own explication of
her gradual acceptanceof typically Native food over the course of her
Captivity demonstrates that she has drawn important lessons from her
experience of living with members of another society. Indeed,
Rowlandson does much more than simply state that starvation
compels her to end up eating what she rejected during the first week
of her captivity. She goes much further when she analyzes her change
in attitude toward unfamiliar food, moving from disgust with what she
calls “filthy trash” to relishing a piece of bear, which she even finds
“savory.” Two passagesare particularly illustrative in this respect. One
of them is in the “Fifth Remove”: “Thefirst week of my being among
them I hardly ate any thing; the second week I found my stomach
grow very faint for want of something; and yet it was very hard to get
downtheir filthy trash; but the third week, though I could think how
formerly my stomach would turn against this or that, and I could
starve and die before I could eat such things, yet they were sweet and
savory to mytaste.” The other passage is the concluding remark of an
episode in the “Ninth Remove”in which she explains how she receives
a piece of bear from a woman,keepsit in her “stinking pocket” for fear
that someone mightsteal it, and finally eats it with some groundnuts
38 A STUDY GUIDE FOR AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

after another womanboils it for her: “I have sometime seen bear baked
very handsomely amongthe English, and somelikeit, but the thought
that it was bear made metremble. But now that was savory to methat
one would think was enoughto turn the stomach ofa brute creature.”
The most thought-provoking aspects of this passage are the author’s
emphasis on how appetizing bear maybe, andthe culinary parallelism
she draws between the English and the Natives.

. According to Puritan doctrine, the ordeal of captivity was considered a

religious trial sent by God for purposes only known to Him,like a
punishment carefully meted out by a loving father to discipline his
children. If the captors were devils or instruments of the devil, their
wicked actions could be viewed as one of God’s mysterious ways of
testing, purifying and strengthening Christians. Captivity was often
translated into spiritual allegory, so that physical freedom from the
captors through God’s providential intervention suggested both
spiritual regeneration or renewal of the soul in conversion and future
redemption in heaven. Throughout her Narrative, Mary Rowlandson
always strove to consistently apply these Puritan beliefs. However, she
became so traumatized that she even contemplated suicide, as she
suggested when she wrote: “I have thought since of the wonderful
goodness of God to me in preserving me in the use of my reason and
senses in that distressed time, that I did not use wicked and violent
meansto end my own miserable life.” Although at the beginning of her
Narrative, she clearly revealed her assurancethat the binary opposition
good vs. evil exactly correspondedto that of Christian vs. heathen, in
the course of her account she gavesigns that she also found virtue in
the ethical conduct of non-Christians. Likewise, although shetried to
see all occurrences as decreed by divine providence, there came a point
whensheattributed the tokens of the Narragansetts’ hospitality to their
own kindness and generosity, rather than to God’s mercy(e.g. at the
end of the “Ninth Remove’’).

. When Rowlandson articulates the four main narrative modes

(description, report, speech, and comment), she makes very little use
of speech. In the selections included in American Literature to 1900
there is only one example of direct speech, when the mothers and
children who are being assaulted during the attack on Lancaster cry
out: “Lord, what shall we do?” This phrase stands in contrast with the
absolute lack of speech on the part of the Natives, who only seem to
be able to shout, hallow, roar, sing, rant, and insult, and whose actual
Unit 4: MARY ROWLANDSON 39

words are never cited. The narrative mode whichprevails throughout

the narrative is report, entirely aimed at recounting real actions and
events with strikingly graphic realism. Description (of people, objects,
and geographical settings) is so well intertwined with report that it
enhancesvividness almost imperceptibly. On the contrary, commentis
clearly noticed, to the point of becoming quite obtrusive for modern
readers. Since the stated purpose of Rowlandson’s Narrative was to
edify her children and friends, the author’s original audience probably
expected her to interpret all sorts of actions and events in terms of
providential hermeneutics, using abstract generalizations. However,
today’s readers are likely to be disturbed by her frequent moralizing
disquisition and digression. For instance, one of the moststartling
disruptions occurs in the middle of the rather long second paragraph
of the Narrative, where the writer (or perhaps one of her editors)
interpolates the comment: “The Lord hereby would make us the more
acknowledge His hand, and to see that our help is always in Him.”
Punctuation is revealing here, because Rowlandson resumes report
with remarkable speed immediately after a period, not evenstarting a
new paragraph: “But out must we go,the fire increasing, and coming
along behind us, roaring, and the Indians gaping before us with their
guns, spears, and hatchets to devour us.” On the other hand, there are
no such interruptions in the opening passage of the Narrative, whose
swiftness underscores the surprising effect and the strong emotional
impact of the morning attack.

8. Mary Rowlandson portrays herself both as a dynamic character that

evolves over the course of her narrative, and as a well-rounded
character, with a variety of complex traits. Her spiritual autobiography
contains psychological commentary about her variable emotional
states, revealing the classic symptoms of the survivor syndrome,
including depression, anxiety, insomnia, disorientation, guilt, despair,
and grief. If her Narrative appeals to modern readers, it is probably
thanks to its immediacy, presumable truthfulness and seemingly
accurate self-representation. Although she tends to emphasize her
strength and resourcefulness, she also acknowledges her weaknesses
and other personal faults, in accordance with the Puritan practice of
exposing the sinful heart to public judgment. For instance, in the
“Eighteenth Remove,” she is honest enough to tell an episode that
casts her in an unfavorable light. She frankly reports that she grabbed
a piece of boiled horse’s foot from the mouth of a starving English
child, one of her fellow prisoners, once she had avidly eaten her own
40 A STUDY GUIDE FOR AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

portion: “Being very hungry, I had quickly eat up mine, but the child
could notbite it, it was so tough and sinewy, but lay sucking, gnawing,
chewing, and slabbering ofit in the mouth and hand. ThenI took it of
the child and ate it myself and savory it was to mytaste.”
Apart from being the main character of her account, Rowlandson
also presents herself as a very reliable narrator, for she carefully
records whether she is an eyewitness of the specific actions and
events she reports, or if her information is based on hearsay. For
example, she makesthis distinction in the very first paragraph of her
Narrative, where she states in parentheses, “(as they told me),” and in
the following paragraph, where she punctiliously affixes two nuanced
notes: “(according to my observation,in that amazing time)” and “(as
would seem).

Although most modern readers may be unacquainted with someof the

words used by Rowlandson, her contemporary audience wasnotlikely
to be puzzled by her vocabulary or any other aspects of her prosestyle,
characterized by an absence of rhetorical ornamentation. Since she
sought to communicate herideas as clearly as possible, she achieved
her goal by adopting the Puritan plain style, marked by didactic intent
and an absolute rejection of literary artifice. She explicitly extolled
and consciously strove for simplicity and directness, the two main
values which influenced the mode of verbal expression that prevails in
her work.

10. In the “Fifth Remove,’ Mary Rowlandson describes “the strange

providence of God in preserving the heathen,’ emphasizing how
hundreds of Narragansetts (including many womencarrying babies,as
well as various kinds of movement-impaired people, “old and young,
some sick, and some lame’’) manageto convey their entire settlement
acrossa river that the English troops cannot cross. She underlines the
extraordinary mobility of the Indians, in spite of being burdenedbyall
their possessions, and sets it in sharp contrast with the lack of
“courage or activity” exhibited by the party of rescuers. Even if she
justifies her captors’ success by claiming that God preserves them so
that they many continue to “try” the captives, in this passage there is
an explicit reproach directed at the English, and an implicit
appreciation of the humane behavior of the divinely favored—rather
than hellish—Indians.

11. One of the basic theological principles of the Puritan faith was the
unmediated relation between the believer and Christ, who manifested
Unit 4: MARY ROWLANDSON 4}

himself in the believer’s soul and in the Bible. Consequently, Scriptural

exegesis was a regular cultural practice among the Puritans, who
proclaimed the supreme authority of the Bible and madeit accessible
to the entire community of believers. Being a minister’s wife, Mary
Rowlandson waslikely to be more steeped in the Bible than the average
members of her congregation. She must have learned manybiblical
passages by heart, and was probably able to quote them from memory
for her purposes, drawing conclusions on her own. Moreover, since one
of her captors gave her a Bible taken as plunder during the raid on
Medfield, she spent time scrutinizing the book in order to find any
messages from God that would assureherspiritual survival. One or two
years after her rescue, when she wrote her Narrative, she often quoted
passagesshe said she had looked at while a captive.
In the excerpts included in the coursebook,there are two quotations
from the Psalms and one from Exodus, and the exact references are
given for all three. The source ofthe first is Psalm 27:13, a verse from
which Rowlandson only rendered the initial words, “I had fainted,
unless I had believed, etc,’ omitting the rest of the quote, “to see the
goodness of the Lord in the land of the living,” because she assumed
that her readers would be familiar enough with it and did not need to
haveit cited in full. In Psalm 27, David had expressed his confidence
in God, and exhorted others to trust in the Lord’s deliverance from
Captivity.
Rowlandson closed the “Fifth Remove”with the following biblical
quote: “Oh that my people had hearkened to me,and Israel had walked
in my ways, I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my
hand against their adversaries” (Psalm 81:13-14). By quoting this
verse, which refers to the miseries brought on people by their own
transgressions, the author tried to explain why God withdrew his grace
and the English army did not succeedin crossing theriver.
Rowlandson ended her Narrative with the words uttered by Moses
when he encouraged the Israelites to be calm and trust God, who
would save them independently of all human meansasthey fled from
Egypt after many years of captivity: “Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord” (Exodus 14:13).

12. The concluding remark of Mary Rowlandson’s Narrative demonstrates

that she interpreted her earthly redemption as a divine sign of her
spiritual salvation. The author contended that her purifying and
strengthening ordeal taught her to trust God, and overlook any minor
temporal problems which might trouble her, so that she ended up
42 A STUDY GUIDE FOR AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

considering them as not worthy of attention. Regarding changesin her

worldview, certain passages of her account reveal that she questioned
some of her preconceptions, and ceased to interpret humanexistence in
Manichean terms of good and evil, for she observed how the same
people who had committed acts of brutality also performed deeds of
virtue, just as she would have expected from any charitable Christian.

13. AnneBradstreet (c. 1612-1672) and Mary Rowlandson (c. 1637-1717)

developed self-fashioning strategies in accordance with the expectations
of their fellow Puritans, who demandededifying portraits of virtuous
wives and mothers: honest, humble, diligent, and pious. Muchoftheir
self-abasement can also be interpreted as a calculated rhetorical pose,
a poetic convention, and a defensive maneuver to protect themselves
from the harsh criticism of certain male readers, rather than as
evidence of genuine insecurity. In their writings, both authors
conveyed numerous autobiographical elements concerning the
material losses and psychological hardships they endured, and
depicted themselves as being physically and emotionally tough,
though they also acknowledged their spiritual weaknesses. Strictly
complying with the principles of Puritan rhetoric, they rendered every
personal experience of their lives as a moral lesson cast in terms of
biblical typology. They often renewedtheir trust in Godin the face of
adversity, while showing a wide range of feelings which exemplified
frequent tensions between faith and doubt. These two highly literate
writers discussed only the private concerns whichreligious people of
their time would consider ethically relevant, and shared with their
readers their perceptions aboutfairly commonstruggles in the arduous
existence of seventeenth-century female settlers. For instance, they
dealt with the theme of mourning their deceased offspring, for
Bradstreet wrote poems about the death of her grandchildren, and
Rowlandson devoted some of the most poignant passages of her
Narrative to the loss of Sarah, her six-year-old daughter, who was
fatally woundedby a bullet during the attack on Lancaster, and died
nine days after their capture.

14. Although Captain John Smith’s accountof his three-week captivity is

not a separately published captivity narrative, and many scholars
contend that it should not be classified as one of its true examples, it
is widely recognized as the foremost precursor ofthis literary genre.
Mary Rowlandson’s account of her eleven-week captivity, which
strictly follows the jeremiad design,is the first and most famousfull-
Unit 4: MARY ROWLANDSON 43

length work of the genre. Smith’s text is focused on his adventures,

whereas Rowlandson’sis centered on herreligious ordeal.
Both Captain Smith and Mary Rowlandson depicted their captors
as diabolical savages. In the excerpt included in unit 1 (pages 17-20),
Smith called them “savages” (lines 1, 5, 9, and 25), and explicitly
compared them to “devils” who dwelled in “hell” (lines 49-50) and
uttered “hellish notes and screeches” (line 33). Rowlandson portrayed
the raiding party as “a company of hell-hounds”(line 50, page 68).
Furthermore, Captain Smith called Powhatan’s subjects “grim
courtiers” (line 52), thus comparing them with the attendants at any
European royal court. However, Mary Rowlandson did not see the
Narragansetts as courtiers, but revealed her steadfast tendency to
invariably describe the world in religious terms whenshereferred to
her captorsas “the bloody heathen”(line 26, page 67), “those merciless
heathen”(line 46, page 68), and later simply as “the heathen”(line 8,
page 69).
John Smith proudly construed the account of his captivity to
emerge as a hero who shamelessly boasted abouthis exploits. On the
contrary, since Mary Rowlandson wrote for the spiritual edification of
her readers, she was constrained to present herself as a poor sinner,
humbly acknowledgingher failures, and ascribing any success in her
story to divine providence, rather than to her own accomplishments.
John Smith’s worldly concerns and literary education throw light on
his wish to ornament his captivity account with Greek and Latin
quotations drawn from the works of secular authors. On the other
hand, Rowlandson’s religious bent explains why she adopted the
Puritan plain style and restricted herself to quoting from an English
version of the Bible. Gender differences also justify some divergences
between the works of the two authors regarding both subject matter
and style at a time whenthe social roles of men and women were very
far apart.

15. The writings of these three authorsillustrate the complex relationships

between history and rhetoric. Mary Rowlandson’s presentation of
historical events differs from John Smith’s because shetried to be as
accurate as possible, whereas he felt free to blend fact andfiction.
Since Rowlandson and Bradford shared a Puritan vision of the world,
they interpreted all historical events in providential terms, and
consideredhistory as a continuum moving towarda particular outcome,
according to God’s design. Both writers typified Puritan colonial
discourse, which denied the very fact of invasion, for the members of
 A STUDY GUIDE FOR AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

that religious group believed they were not claiming America by

conquest, but reclaiming what by virtue of God’s promise rightfully
belonged to them. As a result, although Bradford and Rowlandson
honestly thought they were recording a truthful version of the actual
events they had witnessed, in fact they were construing rather biased
historical accounts which omitted key factors. For instance,
Rowlandsoncandidly depicted the colonists as the innocent victims of
the unbridled cruelty inflicted on them by their enemies, overlooking
how the Algonquian tribes were suffering the devastating effects of
diseaseandstarvation. If she had explicated King Philip’s Waras the
culmination of tensions between Natives and European settlers over
land rights, she would have placed the raid on the small town of
Lancaster in the larger context of a struggle in which about 600
colonists and 3,000 Native Americans werekilled.

Bibliography

Primary sources:

Rowlandson, Mary. “A True History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mary

Rowlandson.” Ed. Amy Schrager Lang. Journeys in New Worlds: Early
American Women’s Narratives. Ed. William L. Andrews. Madison: U of
Wisconsin P, 1990.
—. The Sovereignty and Goodness of God By Mary Rowlandson, with Related
Documents. Ed. Neal Salisbury. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997.

Secondary sources:

Berkovitch, Sacvan. The American Jeremiad. Madison: U of Wisconsin P,

1978.
Breitwieser, Mitchell Robert. American Puritanism and the Defense of
Mourning: Religion, Grief, and Ethnology in Mary Rowlandson’s
Captivity Narrative. Madison: U of Wisconsin P, 1990.
Castiglia, Christopher. Bound and Determined: Captivity, Culture-Crossing,
and White Womanhood from Mary Rowlandson to Patty Hearst. Chicago:
U of ChicagoP, 1996.
Derounian-Stodola, Kathryn Zabelle, and James Arthur Levernier. The Indian
Captivity Narrative, 1550-1900. New York: Twayne, 1993.
 UNIT 4
Mary Rowlandson(c. 1637-1711)

The captivity narrative, a typically American literary genre, grew out of the
violent struggle between the Natives and the English colonists. The new
genre was so popular among seventeenth-century readers that these widely-
read pieces, often called “Indian captivities,” becamethe first best-sellers in
American literature. These tales directly addressed the fears and anxieties of
colonists, who felt threatened by the New World wilderness and its indigenous
population. As accounts of captivity continued to be successful until the
nineteenth century, some novelists who had never undergone such ordeals
were impelled to craft fictionalized versions of the form (e.g. James Fenimore
Cooper’s The Last of the Mohicans, 1826). The fictions, however, emphasized
adventure rather than the devotional aspects which were typical of the early
examples of the genre. As they moved away from their religious roots, they
became morepolitically influential in a society which hadto justify western
expansion. Among the seventeenth-century writers who experiencedreal-
life captivities, Mary Rowlandsoncreated a prototype which standsoutas the
major contribution to the captivity narrative genre.
A Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration ofMrs. Mary Rowlandsonis
a detailed autobiographical account of the eleven weeks and five days a
womansettler from the Massachusetts Bay Colony was held captive by a
group of Natives. The Wampanoagandotherrelated tribes of Algonquians
had maintained peaceful relations with the colonists for some time, but a
war broke out when they tried to prevent the colonial expansion in New
England. Their raid on the small town of Lancaster waspart of “King Philip’s
War,” an uprising led by the Wampanoag chief Metacomet, also known under
the name of Philip. He was oneof the sons of Massasoit, the regional leader
whohadsigned a treaty of friendship with William Bradford and the Pilgrims,
and who had managed to maintain the alliance with Plymouth until his death
in 1662. During “King Philip’s War,” which devastated the region, about 600
 vu
62 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

sinaa
‘Hand, for her. private Uihyaed now made
iecna Te inch De!
at tecarne® Delie ofSorefoe Esiends, and Soe theBe =
Although Mary Rowlandson never
mentioned having used a gun during
the Lancasterraid, thetitle page of
the tenth edition of her Narrative
(Boston: John Boyle, 1773) shows
her defending her home from four
attackers armed with tomahawks.

colonists and 3,000 Native People were killed, and more than 1,200 houses
were burned. The attack on Lancaster wasin retaliation for the hanging in
Plymouth of three of Philip’s men, accused of murdering a Christian Native
named John Sassamon, who was considered an English informant. The
revenge raid took place shortly after the troops protecting thelittle town left
for want of provisions. On that occasion, the homes were burned, and out of
the approximately fifty families who dwelled in Lancaster, twelve citizens
were killed, including Mary Rowlandson’s eldestsister, one of her brothers-in-
law and one nephew. Her husband and another brother-in-law survived
because they were in Boston, thirty miles east, appealing to the colonial
governmentto protect Lancaster from raids. Military assistance wasprovided,
but arrived too late to help the inhabitants of Lancaster. Among the twenty-
four colonists that were kidnapped was Mary Rowlandson and her three
children. Sarah, her six-year-old daughter, was fatally woundedby a bullet and
died nine days after capture. Mrs. Rowlandson, who had been shot through her
UNIT 4: MARY ROWLANDSON(c. 1637-1711) 63

side, was separated from herother children, Joseph (aged 14) and Mary (aged
10), whom she was allowed to visit briefly in a nearby encampmentseveral
times during the eighty-two daysof her captivity. She lived with the members
of a Native household: the female leader of the Pocassets, Weetamoo, and her
husband Quanopen, a chief of the Narragansetts who had participated in the
Lancaster raid. Rowlandson and her captors travelled over 150 miles, in a
forced migration questing for food and shelter at various encampments, until
she wasreleased for a twenty pound ransom on May2, 1676. That summer,
her two children were also ransomed.
Until her capture, the author had led the ordinary life of a Puritan
housewife. Mary White was born about 1637 in South Petherton (Somerset).
She hadarrived from England with her nine siblings when she wasa child.
Her father, John White, emigrated to Salem (Massachusetts) in 1638 and
sent for the rest of the family in the following year. They all moved from
Salem to Wenham, and then to the frontier settlement of Lancaster, where her
father was one of the founders. Around 1656 she married the Reverend Joseph
Rowlandson, the first minister of the church of Lancaster, and had four
children, one of whom died in infancy. When Lancaster was ransacked, their
rather comfortable life was shattered. After the release of Mary Rowlandson
and her two surviving children, the family lived in Boston for a year,
supported by their friends. In the spring of 1677 they moved to Wethersfield
(Connecticut), where the Reverend Rowlandson returned to the ministry. He
died in November 1678 and, not against the customs of her contemporary
society, in August 1679 Mrs. Rowlandson married another community leader,
Captain Samuel Talcott, a widowerwith eight children, and lived in the same
town until her death.
Mary Rowlandson beganhernarrative in 1677 or 1678, that is, one or two
years after her captivity, although it was not published until 1682, undera title
whichstressed its religious dimension: The Soveraignty and Goodness of
God. The book was such an instant success that during the first year three
editions were printed in Massachusetts and a fourth in London, wherethetitle
was changed to A True History of the Captivity & Restauration of Mrs.
Rowlandson. The didactic purposeof the narrative is obvious throughout the
whole text. When the author claimed to have written it exclusively for the
edification of her surviving children and friends, she was abiding by the
Puritan rule that writing should aim at educating readers to understand and
execute God’s will. She could never imagine that she would become the
earliest woman prose-writer of note and that her Narrative would be the only
lengthy piece of prose published by a womanin seventeenth-century New
England. At present, Rowlandsonis celebrated for her role in the development
of both the captivity narrative and American women’s autobiography.
 izes
64 AMERICANLITERATURE TO 1900

Modern literary critics have noted how Rowlandson’s Narrative is

indebted in tone and content to the tradition of the American “jeremiad,” a
term derived from the name of the prophet Jeremiah, whoattributed the
misfortunes of the Israelites to their abandonment of the covenant with God,
and called on them to repentso as to restore the covenant and have a happier
future. Jeremiad themesand structure characterized not only most sermons
preached by Puritan clergymen at that time, but also captivity narratives,
which began with a recital of afflictions and helped to make sense of the
horrors faced by the colonists.
Of the woman captives during the early period of colonization only
Rowlandson had the erudition to write her own story. Although she might
have received some help with the editing of her work, it is clear that her
own voice and style dominate the text. The narratives of Hannah Swart,
Hannah Dunstan and Elizabeth Hanson were transcribed and revised by
educated clergymen whotended to transform them into pieces of devotional
literature. The resulting religious “autobiographies” do not sound authentic to
modern readers, partly because the practical details of survival and other
secular considerations aboutthe daily life of the female captives were omitted.
Mary Rowlandsonhad the support of clergymen such as Increase Mather, who
encouraged her to compose her book, arranged for its publication, and
probably wrote the anonymouspreface that accompanied thefirst editions.
The Reverend Joseph Rowlandson’s final sermon, “The Possibility of God’s
Forsaking a People,” was added as an afterword or appendix.
Puritan spiritual leaders were aware of the process of secularization of their
society and they wanted the New Englandcolonists to interpret King Philip’s
War in supernatural terms, not as the natural reaction of a starving people who
were makingtheir last efforts to retain their land. The political and economic
reasons for the Native attacks were disregarded, and only the religious
meaning of the ordeal the colonists were suffering was considered worthy of
attention. According to the orthodox Puritan version of the story, the Natives
did not go into battle out of their own initiative, but were sent by an angry
God wheneverit was necessary to punish the faults and sins committed by the
community that had failed to fulfill the special covenant. Breaking the
covenant invariably resulted in a loss of supernatural protection, while true
repentance of the chosen people would stop divine wrath and bring about
God’s merciful forgiveness, as revealed in the colonists’ final victory over the
Natives.
Divine providenceis the all-pervading principle throughout the Narrative,
of which Godis the center. Mary Rowlandson often expressesthe belief that
Godis an omnipotent being who controls everything, from major events to
small occurrences, and acts with special purpose, not only by generally using
UNIT 4: MARY ROWLANDSON(c. 1637-1711) 65

the Natives as agents or instruments to punish the Puritans, but also by

intervening in very specific ways(e.g. by paralysing the guard dogs). She also
notes how God alwayssupported her during her spiritual and physicaltrial
and, therefore, credits Him and not them for not having been sexually abused
“in word or action.” When a Native gave her a copy of the Bible he had
plunderedin a raid, she did not feel grateful to him, but to God, whom she
considered had sentherthat gift in order to strengthen her. In fact, whereas she
depended on the food the Natives gave her (sometimes in exchange for her
knitting or sewing) for material survival, scrutinizing the Bible in orderto find
God’s messages assured her spiritual survival during her captivity.
Consequently, when she later recorded her experiences, she did not miss any
opportunities to allude to whatever scriptural passages she regarded as
relevant, often interpreting them in a prophetical manner. Thus, if a writer like
John Smith (who was not a Puritan) ornamented his captivity account with
learned quotations from Greek and Latin authors, Rowlandson restricted
herself to the words of the Bible, especially of the Old Testament, where she
found numerous examples to compare the sufferings of many Jewish
personages with her own distress. Thus, she identified with Job in his
afflictions, Daniel in the den of lions, Jonah in the whale, and Moses
wandering in the desert.
The Narrative opens with a scene of unbridled violence, the dreadful
massacre in which the attackers are portrayed as “a company of hell-
hounds” and “ravenous beasts.” Nevertheless, as time goes by, the author
generally refers to them with the more neutral term of “Indians,” and less
often as “Heathens” or “Pagans.” She also begins to give evidence of their
virtues and to tell the difference between her various captors. For instance,
she speaks of her “master” Quanopenas “the best friend that I had of an
Indian,” whereas she despises his wife, Weetamoo, whom shecalls a “severe
and proud dame”and openly criticises her for what she considers “vanity”
(e.g. spending too much time taking care of her appearance, making-up
and wearing jewels). Rowlandson expresses her happiness when she sees
Quanopen and often recordshis acts of kindness, such as providing food for
her, even fetching water himself so that she could wash, and then giving her
a glass to see how she looked. The relationship with Weetamoo was
probably much morestrained because Mary was unawareofthe fact that her
“mistress” was not just Quanopen’s third wife, but a chief in her ownright,
who expected to be treated with more respect than the captive waswilling to
accord her. Rowlandson’s failure to recognise the high status of her
“mistress” in a hierarchical society led her to defiantly disobey Weetamoo’s
orders; this challenging attitude provoked in the female leader an irritated
desire to assert her authority in front of her subjects. Months after
 66 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

Rowlandson’s ransom, Quanopen was captured and shot“for treason against

the King of England,” and Weetamoowaskilled in an ambush while trying
to return to her home.

We will read the initial paragraphs of Rowlandson’s captivity narrative,

followed by several brief extracts from only someof the twenty “removes,” —
a term she usedto refer to the stages of her forced march. Our selections
include her vivid accountof the brutal assault on Lancaster, some comments
about the painful conditions of the beginning of the author’s captivity in the
wilderness, the pathetic report oflittle Sarah’s death from wounds one week
later, followed by some glimpses of the gradual transformation Rowlandson
underwentas she tried to adapt to life among the Narragansetts. The final
extract from her twentieth “remove”is the concluding remark of her work.

From A Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration ofMrs. Mary

Rowlandson

Onthe tenth of February 1675,' came the Indians with great numbers upon
Lancaster: their first coming was about sunrising; hearing the noise of some
guns, we looked out; several houses were burning, and the smoke ascending to
heaven. There were five persons taken in one house; the father, and the mother
and a sucking child, they knocked on the head; the other two they took and
carried away alive. There were two others, who being out of their garrison?
upon some occasion were set upon; one was knockedon the head, the other
escaped; another there was who running along was shot and wounded, andfell
down;he beggedof them his life, promising them money(as they told me) but
10 they would not hearken?’ to him but knocked him in head, and stripped him
naked, and split open his bowels. Another, seeing many of the Indians about
his barn, ventured and went out, but was quickly shot down. There were
three others belonging to the same garrison who were killed; the Indians
getting up uponthe roofof the barn, had advantage to shoot down upon them
15 overtheir fortification. Thus these murderous wretches* went on, burning, and
destroying before them.

! This date is Old Style (Julian calendar, introduced in Rome in 46 B.C.). Using the
present Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII and adopted by Great
Britain and the American colonies in 1752, it would be February 20, 1676.
2 Oneofthe six fortified houses in Lancaster where families were gathered for defense.
3 Listen.
4 Brutes; villains.
UNIT 4: MARY ROWLANDSON(c. 1637-1711) 67

At length they came and beset> our own house, and quickly it was the
dolefulest® day that ever mine eyes saw. The house stood upon the edge of a
hill; some of the Indians got behindthe hill, others into the barn, and others
behind anything that could shelter them; from which places they shot against 20
the house, so that the bullets seemed to fly like hail;’ and quickly they
wounded one man among us, then another, and then a third. About two
hours (according to my observation, in that amazing time) they had been
about the house before they prevailed’to fire it. [...]. Some in our house were
fighting for their lives, others wallowing? in their blood, the house onfire 25
over our heads, and the bloody heathen ready to knock us on the head, if we
stirred out. Now might we hear mothers and children crying out for
themselves, and one another, “Lord, what shall we do?” Then I took my
children (and one of mysisters, hers) to go forth and leave the house: but as
soon as we cameto the door and appeared, the Indians shot so thick that the 30
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. We had six stout dogs
belonging to our garrison, but none of them wouldstir,’ though another
time, if any Indian had cometo the door, they were ready to fly upon him and
tear him down. The Lord hereby would make us the more acknowledge His 35
hand, andto see that our help is always in Him. But out we mustgo, the fire
increasing, and coming along behindus, roaring, and the Indians gaping?
before us with their guns, spears, and hatchets to devour us. No sooner were
we out of the house, but my brother-in-law’ (being before wounded, in
defending the house, in or near the throat) fell down dead, whereat’> the
Indians scornfully shouted, and hallowed,!° and were presently upon him,
stripping off his clothes, the bullets flying thick, one went through myside,
and the same (as would seem) through the bowels and hand of my dear
child’’ in my arms. One of my eldest sisters’ children, named William, had
then his leg broken, which the Indians perceiving, they knocked him on 45

> Besieged; attacked from all sides.

& Most mournful.
Frozen rain-drops.
Succeeded.
° Rolling about.
10 Made series of sharp, short sounds in quick succession.
Compelled.
Move.
Staring open-mouthed.
44 John Divoll, husband of Mary Rowlandson’s youngersister, Hannah.
'S At which point.
16 Shouted.
17 Mary Rowlandson’s younger daughter, Sarah.
 68 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

[his] head. Thus we were butchered’® by those merciless heathen, standing

amazed, with the blood running downto ourheels. [...]
[...]. It is a solemn sight to see so many Christians lying in their blood,
some here and somethere, like a company of sheep torn by wolves, all of
50 them stripped naked by a companyofhell-hounds, roaring, singing, ranting,!°
and insulting, as if they would have torn our very hearts out; yet the Lord by
His almighty power preserved a numberof us from death, for there were
twenty-four of us taken alive and carried captive.
I had before this said that if the Indians should come, I should choose
55 rather to be killed by them than taken alive, but when it cameto the trial my
mind changed; their glittering weapons so daunted” myspirit, that I chose
rather to go along with those (as I may say) ravenous?! beasts, than that
momentto end my days; and that I maythe better declare what happened to
me during that grievous” captivity I shall particularly speak of the several
removes” we had up and downthe wilderness.

The Third Remove

The morning being come, they prepared to go on their way. One of the
Indians got up on a horse, and they set me up behind him, with my poorsick
babe in my lap. A very wearisome”and tedious day I had of it; what with my
own wound, and my child’s being so exceeding sick, and in a lamentable
condition with her wound. It may be easily judged what a poor feeble
condition we were in, there being not the least crumb of refreshing that came
within either of our mouths from Wednesday night to Saturday night, except
only little cold water. This day in the afternoon, about an hour by sun, we
10 cameto a place where they intended, viz.”° an Indian town called Wenimesset,
northward of Quabaug.”” When we were come, Oh the number of pagans
(now merciless enemies) that there came about me,that I may say as David, “T
had fainted, unless I had believed, etc”? (Psalm 27:13). [...]

'8 Killed.
'9 Talking in a loud and excited manner.
0 Frightened.
Extremely hungry.
2 That causes great pain and suffering.
23 Movesto other places. According to her account, Mary Rowlandson was moved from
place to place twenty times during hercaptivity.
7 February 12-27.
2 Tiring; tiresome.
6 yiz (Latin): namely.
27 Now Brookfield, Massachusetts.
8... to see the goodnessof the Lord in the landofthe living.”
UNIT 4: MARY ROWLANDSON(c. 1637-1711) 69

[...] About two hours in the night, my sweet babe like a lamb departed this
life on Feb. 18, 1675.7? It being about six years, and five monthsold. It was 15
nine days from the first wounding, in this miserable condition, without any
refreshing of one nature or other except little cold water. I cannot but take
notice how at another time I could not bear to be in the room where any
dead person was, but now the case is changed; I must and could lie down by
my dead babe, side by side all the night after. I have thought since of the 20
wonderful goodness of God to mein preserving mein the use of my reason
and sensesin that distressed time, that I did not use wicked and violent means
to end my own miserablelife. [...]

The Fifth Remove*

[...] The first week of my being among them I hardly ate any thing; the
second week I found my stomach grow very faint for want of something; and
yet it was very hard to get downtheirfilthy trash; but the third week, though
I could think how formerly my stomach would turn againstthis or that, and I
could starve and die before I could eat such things, yet they were sweet and
savory to mytaste.
[...] And here I cannotbuttake notice of the strange providence of God in
preserving the heathen. They were many hundreds, old and young, some
sick, and some lame; many had papooses?! at their backs. The greatest number
at this time with us were squaws,” and they traveled with all they had, bag and 10
baggage, and they got overthis river aforesaid;*? and on Mondaytheyset their
wigwams* on fire, and away they went. On that very day came the English
army~° after them to this river, and saw the smoke of their wigwams, and yet
this river put a stop to them. Goddid not give them courage oractivity to go
over after us. We were not ready for so great a mercy as victory and 15
deliverance. If we had been, God would have found out a way for the English
to have passed this river, as well as for the Indians with their squaws and
children, and all their luggage. “Oh that my people had hearkened to me, and
Israel had walked in my ways, I should soon have subdued their enemies, and
turned my hand against their adversaries” (Psalm 81:13-14). 20

9 Using the present Gregorian calendar, March 1, 1676.

30 February 28 - March3.
3! Native American babies.
32 Native American women. Nowadays this term should be avoided because the Native
People consider it derogatory.
33 The Baquag River, which is present-day Miller’s River, in Orange, Massachusetts.
34 Huts or tents made by fastening skins or mats over a frameworkofpoles.
35 A contingent of Massachusetts and Connecticut troops under Captain Thomas Savage.
 70 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

The Ninth Remove

But instead of going either to Albany or homeward, we mustgo five

miles up the river, and then go over it. Here we abode a while. Here lived a
sorry Indian, who spoke to me to make him a shirt. When I had done it, he
would not pay me nothing. Buthe living by the riverside, where I often went
to fetch water, I would often be putting of him in mind, and calling for my
pay: At last he told me if I would makeanothershirt, for a papoose not yet
born, he would give me a knife, which he did when I had doneit. I carried the
knife in, and my master askedto give it him, and I wasnota little glad that I
had anything he would acceptof, and be pleased with.[...]. My son being now
10 about a mile from me, I asked liberty to go and see him; they bade me go, and
away I went; but quickly lost myself, traveling over hills and through swamps,
and could not find the way to him. And I cannot but admire at the wonderful
power and goodness of God to me, in that, though I was gone from home, and
met with all sorts of Indians, and those I had no knowledgeof, and there being
15 no Christian soul near me; yet not one of them offered the least imaginable
miscarriage to me. I turned homeward again, and met with my master. He
showed me the way to myson. [...]
But I was fain to go and look after something to satisfy my hunger, and
going among the wigwams, I went into one and there found a squaaw who
20 showedherself very kind to me, and gave mea piece of bear, I put it into my
pocket, and came home, but could not find an opportunity to broil it, for fear
they would get it from me, and there it lay all that day and night in my
stinking pocket. In the morning I went to the same squaw, whohada kettle of
groundnuts”boiling. I asked her to boil my piece ofbearin her kettle, which
25 she did, and gave me some groundnuts to eat with it: and I cannot but think
how pleasant it was to me. I have sometime seen bear baked very
handsomely?’ amongthe English, and somelikeit, but the thoughtthatit was
bear made me tremble. But now that was savoury** to me that one would think
was enoughto turn the stomachofa brute creature.
30 Onebitter cold day I could find no room to sit down beforethe fire. I went
out, and could nottell what to do, but I went in to another wigwam, where

36 The Amerindians from Ontario to the Gulf of Mexico utilized groundnut (Apios
americana) as a major food resource, and early European explorers of North America
often depended uponit for their survival. The tubers, which are perennial and may be
harvested at any time of the year, are the edible portions of this wild plant. Groundnut
tubers are high in starch and protein (they have three times more protein than potatoes);
they can be boiled or roasted.
37 Beautifully; splendidly.
38 Pleasing to the taste; appetizing.
UNIT 4: MARY ROWLANDSON(c. 1637-1711) 71

they were alsositting round the fire, but the squaw laid a skin for me, and bid
mesit down, and gave me some groundnuts, and bade me comeagain; and
told me they would buy me, if they were able, and yet these were strangers to
methat I never saw before. 35

The Twentieth Remove

[...] If trouble from smaller matters begin to arise in me, I have something
at hand to check myself with, and say, why am I troubled? It was but the other
day that if I had had the world, I would have given it for my freedom,or to
have been a servant to a Christian. I have learned how to look beyond present
and smaller troubles, and to be quieted under them. As Mosessaid, “Standstill 5
andsee the salvation of the Lord” (Exodus 14:13).

Finis.

1. Rowlandson describes the behaviour of the raiding party as being

a. merciless.
b. jubilant.
c. Cautious.
d. hesitant.

2. During the raid, how are the colonists portrayed?

a. Determinedto resist capture.
b. Determined to kill as many attackers as possible.
c. Extremely vulnerable.
d. Cowardly.

3. Rowlandsoninterprets the uncharacteristic behaviour of the garrison dogs in

failing to defend the colonists as evidence
a. that God has abandonedthem to capture by the Natives.
b. of God’s will that the colonists trust only in Him.
c. of how untrustworthy dogs can be.
d. of how unpredictable the dogs’ reaction to the attackers could be.
72 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

- Why did the author change her mind aboutpreferring to be killed rather
than captured?
a. She wassure she would be released soon.
b. She was anxious to protect her children.
c. She hoped that her captivity would not be too hard.
d. She wasfrightened ofthe attackers’ weapons.

. Whateffect did the death of her child have upon Rowlandson?

a. In spite of her grief, she did nottry to kill herself.
b. She thanked God she wasstill alive.
c. She determined to take revenge on those whohadkilled her daughter.
d. She thanked God for delivering the woundedgirl from her miserable
condition.

. In the “Third Remove” the phrase “my sweet babe like a lamb” is an
example of
a. paradox.
b. figurative language.
C. paronomasia.
d. apostrophe.

- By the assertion “not one of them offered the least imaginable miscarriage
to me” (“Ninth Remove”) the author most probably meansthat
. she was neversexually abused.
la TD

. she never had a miscarriage (premature expulsion of a foetus).

. she was notgiven help to arrive at her destination.
. she wasnot given wrong directionsto arrive at her destination.

. Whatphrase best describes the author's portrayal of the Natives’ behaviour

to her during the “Ninth Remove”?
a. They were mostly neglectful.
b. Some of them were kind.
c. All of them were extremely cruel.
d. They were mostly unfair.

. Rowlandson’s actions show how she became

a. less forgiving.
b. more helpless.
c. moreself-reliant.
d. less persevering.
 UNIT 4: MARY ROWLANDS
ON(c. 1637-1711)
73

10. From the author’s co

mments about Native foo
and in the “Ninth Remove d both in the “Fifth Remove
”we learn that ”
a. she always hatedit.
b. she always likedit.
c. she enjoyedit at first, but the
n
. she hatedit at first, but gradua shegot tired ofit.
lly got used toit.
11. The concluding remark
of Rowlandson’s Narrative
whenever she had difficult shows how, once freed,
ies she faced them with
a. anxiety.
b. insolence.
Cc. Circumspection.
d. calmness.

12. One of the moststri kin

g features of Rowlandson’s Nar
rativeis its
a. pathos.
b. use of extended metaphors
.
Cc. use of puns.
d. objectivity.

13. Rowlandson’s Narrative

is told
a. by an omniscientnarrator.
b. by multiple narrators.
c. in thefirst person.
d. in the third person.
14. All of the following may be
foundin the Passages above
except
a. expectancy.
b. flippancy.
C. sorrow.
d. violence.

15. As the Narrative progresse

s, the author’s view of the Nat
Considering them as a “compa ives shifts from
ny of hell-hounds” to
a. peaceful, but greedy people.
b. a groupofpassive people, whe
c. distinct individuals, so
nthey are not at war.
me better than others.
d. less violent, butstill aggressiv
e,
Martens isticsee «
74 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

. How did the authorpicture the raiding party in the opening passage of her
narrative? What terms did she use to refer to the attackers? Would you term
such dehumanizing representation as “racist stereotyping”? Rememberthat
the early Puritan settlers did not perceive the Natives as human beings.

. In what sense could captivity narratives such as Rowlandson’s have been

used as anti-Indian propagandain orderto justify the expropriation of land
previously occupied by Native People? Note the symbolic role of the
attackers as a malign force, that is, as the representatives of the forces of
Satan, who threatened the Puritan hopes of establishing a kingdom of God
in the New World. Apart from the Puritans, other colonists regarded the
Natives as the most important impedimentto their territorial expansion in
the New World.

. By comparing the opening passage of the Narrative with the extract from
the “Ninth Remove,” can you notice the author’s shifting attitude toward
the Narragansetts? Why do you think this change in her point of view
came about?

. Can you find any words derived from Native languages? Makea list of them
and write downtheir definitions. Why did the author include such wordsin
her text? What can we infer about Native daily life from Rowlandson’s
Narrative?

Mary Rowlandson wassurprised at her own capacity for endurance and

continually thanked God for such a gift. Apart from God’s help, can youfind
in the passages above anytracesof her survivalskills? Note the transformation
she underwent(e.g. the changein her attitude toward food) and pay particular
attention to the ways in which she gradually tried to adjust to Native values
and practices (e.g. how she developed anability to barter).

Mary Rowlandsonhas beenpraised for her capacity to bring her emotions

as a Captive into perfect agreement with Puritan doctrine. How doesthe
Narrative demonstrate Puritan thinking at work? Does she use her
experience to reaffirm her beliefs about good vs. evil? Can you find any
particular instances in which the author’s grief overcomes her general
acceptanceof divine will? Analyse the process through which the author
transforms each event or occurrence into a sign of God’s “goodness.”

Analyse Rowlandson’s use of the four narrative modes: description (of

people, objects, geographical settings, etc.), report (of actions), speech
UNIT 4: MARY ROWLANDSON(c. 1637-1711) 75

(either direct or reported) and comment (e.g. moralizing disquisition or

digression). How are the modesarticulated? Is there a balance, or are
some modes more important than others?

Look at Mary Rowlandson as the protagonist of her book, taking into

accountthat there is always a potential distance between the author and the
first-person narrator. To what extentis the Narrative a genuineself-portrait?
Commenton the internal tension deriving from the author’s honest
expression of her personalfeelings and the external pressure to conform to
Puritan orthodoxy. Note that, although she gives ample evidence of her
strength, she is far from always depicting herself as a heroine. Forinstance,
in a passage not included in our selections she acknowledges her greed
whenshe explains how shestole the food given to a fellow prisoner, an
English child, after having eaten her own portion.
Do you consider Rowlandson’s Narrative a good exampleofthe typically
Puritan plain style, which is supposed to be simple and direct?

10. Can you find any hints of a subversive or contradictory subtext hidden
behind the surface of the manifest text? You may look for a clue in the
episodeof the crossing of the river in the “Fifth Remove,” where the author
explicitly records the determination of the Indians to flee from the colonial
troops, without leaving behind any of the weakest members of their
community, and then contrasts such resolute behaviour with the failure of
the English army to rescue the prisoners, through lack of courage and
passivity. In the passages abovethere are also other hints that undermine
certain preconceived notions about the “Indians” (e.g. when the author
reflects on their food and makes observations which tend to undermine her
readers’ expectations concerning the exoticism of the Native People).

11. -Look carefully at the passages above and commenton the author’s use of
the Bible. About onethird of the biblical references in the Narrative come
from the Psalms. Note that Rowlandson mentioned the book of Psalmsas a
spiritual resource so often because she found in King David’s wayof dealing
with religious struggles a very useful model to express her deep anger
against her enemies and her confidence in divine retribution. She did not
feel the need to give complete quotations because she assumed that her
readers would be familiar with the biblical passages she echoed.

12. Did Rowlandson’s eventual redemption affirm her faith in God? Did her
world view change during her captivity? Comment on the concluding
remark with which the Narrative ends.

13. How does Mary Rowlandson’s presentation of herself compare to that of

Anne Bradstreet?
76 AMERICAN LITERATURE TO 1900

14. Compare these passages by Rowlandsonwith John Smith’s earlier account

of his captivity, paying particular attention to: a) the presence or absence of
religious thoughts, b) the way they represented their captors as diabolical
savages, and c) any differences between the authors that may be
attributable to gender (e.g. Smith’s self-confident tone vs. Rowlandson’s
sincere acknowledgement of her anxiety). Note that Smith’s short account
was just a passage within a long book whereas Rowlandson’s captivity
narrative wasthe first full-length work of the genre.

15. How does Mary Rowlandson’s presentation of history compareto that of

Captain John Smith and Governor William Bradford?

The groundnuts that Mary Rowlandson wasgiven to eat during her captivity were not peanuts
(Arachis hypogaea), but the tubers of a wild plant whose botanical name is Apios americana.
Asthis climbing vine is a memberof the legume family (Leguminosae), its fragrant brownish
flowers resemble pea flowers. If left to grow for two years before harvesting, each groundnut
plant can producea yield of about one to two kilos of tubers which, when cooked,havea taste
that is reminiscent of sweet potatoes. Since they were easy to dig up and could be harvested at
any time of the year, the Native People of eastern North America commonly relied on the
natural reserve of groundnuts as a source of protein when other kinds of food were scarce. In
the 1580s, the colonists of Sir Walter Raleigh’s settlement on Roanoke Island sent samples of
this plant to Queen Elizabeth I. Captain John Smith wrote aboutit, and in 1623 the settlers of
Plymouth Plantation survived on it after their supply of corn was exhausted. When Henry
Thoreau wrote nostalgically about “the potato of the aborigines, a sort of fabulous fruit [...] once
the totem of an Indiantribe [...] now almost exterminated,”he called it Apios tuberosa (““House-
Warming,” Walden) Althoughit has been suggested that the groundnut has a potential as a
commercial crop, two attempts to cultivate Apios americana in Europe in 1635 and 1845
endedinfailure.