Friday, January 22, 2010

Mary Rowlandson: Fortunate to be Captured?



What would you do if you were held captive in an unknown environment? I believe that I would most likely act in Mary Rowlandson's manner, turning to faith when there seems to be nothing else left to turn towards. While reading this narrative I couldn't help but think of all the kidnapping stories that I have watched on television newscasts or read in the newspapers. There was Jaycee Dugard who was found eighteen years after she was taken from a school bus stop. She lived in the backyard in tents and sheds where her kidnapper kept her as a slave. She even had two children by this man!!! Or what about the five year old girl from Toledo, Ohio? Neveah Buchanan was kidnapped from her mother's apartment and was later found seven miles away...encased in cement. These cases seem to put Mary Rowlandson's captivity in the light of a mere vacation with "friends." However, I'm sure that it was terrifying for Mary. I'm sure that it would be extremely frightening to be kidnapped and held captive by Native Americans during King Philip's War. However, in both cases; the kidnapping of Mary Rowlandson and the kidnappings of today, I'm sure that the experience is unlike anything that we can comprehend.

Mary Rowlandson's life changed forever on February 10, 1675, when the Indians attacked Lancaster. She witnessed great brutality and cruelty beyond her imagination. She saw her family and friends butchered to death. Mary's own child was shot and wounded while held in her own arms! While Mary and some of her family were in the house the Native Americans set it on fire. She was forced out and into their captivity. She tells in her narrative how they were constantly on the move. She also tells of the heartbreak she experience as a mother when her "sweet Babe like a Lamb departed [this] life." This poor woman just can't seem to catch a break!

Despite all of these horrible events that have happened to her Mary still finds comfort in her faith. She said: "I cannot but take notice of the wonderful mercy of God to me in those afflictions, in sending me a Bible: one of the Indians that came from Medfield fight and had brought some plunder; came to me, and asked me, if I would have a Bible, he had got one in his Basket, I was glad of it, and asked him, whether he thought the Indians would let me read? he answered yes: so I took the Bible...(19)." This Bible is Mary's way of survival in every conceivable way possible. Throughout her narrative she references to different passages in the Bible and how they comfort her during her times of trouble.

As we have discovered in the other reading materials for this class thus far, the wilderness is a vast land of uncertainty and is portrayed as savage, brutal, and unforgiving. Mary seems to get used to it after awhile but then realizes where she is once again. She said: "And here I cannot but remember how many times sitting in their Wigwams, and musing on things past, I should suddenly leap up and run out, as if I had been at home, forgetting where I was, and what my condition was: But when I was without, and saw nothing but Wilderness, and Woods, and a company of barbarous Heathen; my mind quickly returned to me...(30)." So, apparently this theme dominated early American literature. I find it interesting that after awhile Mary found the place to be "as if I had been at home" and then suddenly once out in the open of the wilderness feels that she really is not home at all.

The only thing that I can imagine that would keep a person going after all they have seen and been through: the butchering of family and friends, the loss of a child, the loss of a familiar environment, the hunger from starvation, and the uncertainty of the next hour, let alone the next day...is faith. Faith is clearly a connection between all the works read thus far. Mary with her physical body was fighting against the elements, in bad conditions, while simultaneously fighting starvation: "I cannot but think what a Wolvish appetite persons have in a starving condition: for many times when they gave me that which was hot, I was so greedy, that I should burn my mouth, that it would trouble me hours after; and yet I should quickly do the same again. And after I was thoroughly hungry, I was never again satisfied...(34)." The poor woman is starving!!! She feels guilty because of her "greed" for the food. I think there is big difference between eating for survival and being a glutton. In my opinion it was her spiritual/soul body and her FAITH that kept her alive. Her FAITH kept her alive, even while her body was weak. This brings up a contradiction against the traditional Puritan thought that a weak body enabled evil to dominate...Interesting, is it not?

Another aspect of this narrative that really threw me for a loop was this idea of Mary needing to conceal her faith. She tells of a visit to her son: "I went to see him, and found him lying flat upon the ground: I asked him how he could sleep so? he answered me, that he was not asleep, but at Prayer; and lay so, that they might not observe what he was doing...(25)." She also mentions a time when her Mistress caught her reading her Bible: "...she found me sitting, and reading in my Bible: she snatched it hastily out of my hand, and threw it out of doors; I ran out, and catcht it up, and put it into my pocket, and never let her see it afterward (28)." So Mary chose to conceal her faith from the Native Americans because it was all that she had left and they could not take it away from her. I doubt that she would let them take it!!! Is it wrong to conceal one's faith?! My answer is no. Think of all the people you pass on the street...some may be atheist, Hindu, Buddhist, Baptist, Catholic, Puritan...You get the picture. Now how would you know? Some people are loud about their religion and others are not. I feel that one can be extremely religious but not have to shout it out loud. And I don't think Mary was wrong in what she did. She was not ashamed of her religion! She was protecting her religion, her faith, and herself!!!

"Affliction I wanted, and Affliction I had, full measure (I thought) pressed down and running over: yet I see when God calls a person to any thing, and through never so many difficulties, yet he is fully able to carry them through, and make them see and say they have been gainers thereby. And I hope I can say in some measure, as David did, It is good for me that I have been afflicted (51)." At the end of her narrative Mary Rowlandson is happy about her afflictions! I interpreted this as her belief that she was a chosen one by God. She did not see this as a punishment. This seems unusual to me because the Puritans saw the bad things that happened to people as punishment straight from God. Yet again, another contradiction!!! Mary goes against this Puritan ideal. She views these trials and tribulations as a test and God's belief that she could find the strength within herself to be a good Christian woman and keep her FAITH, despite the horrible things that were happening to her. I think that this is extremely interesting because it is a woman that brings this idea forward! Not a man!!! I believe this is an example of how new ideas and the views about religion are forming.

Mary Rowlandson gained much power; all stemming from her kidnapping by the Native Americans. She already had some power before she was kidnapped because she was the wife of a Puritan minister. After her return to her husband she wrote her narrative which went on to become an immediate bestseller. This begin the origin of the American Western. It also was the foundational fiction which began the flood of story after story of white Christian women held in captivity. The white Christian woman became of symbol of the social and psychological situation America found itself in. She was a symbol of innocence, purity, and sexual vulnerability. The texts also hinted at the hypocritical people of the time and was often written with an eroticism subtext. These images would have been seen with horror because sexuality would have been seen as a nightmare. My... how times have changed!!! Anyway, back to my main point...Mary, like the other women captives, gained power from this situation. Captivity expanded a woman's experience. These women would have never experienced any of these situations in their daily lives. They also broke this barrier of the "quiet woman," "the subservient woman," "the perfect woman." Through these narratives women found their voices and used their power to make their stories heard. It is about time!

2 comments:

  1. Great quote, cannot wait to see more! Perfect for the theme of the book!

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  2. The quote you picked is listed as one of my favorites, too. Mary's faith allows her to believe that she was special enough to be chosen by God to go through hard times. It's funny, because when something goes wrong in my life I am definitely not thinking that I'm lucky. I like your idea that a woman is changing religious views because in that time period, you wouldn't expect it at all. Go Mary!

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