Mary Rowlandson

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorHigh School, 11th grade October 2001

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Mary Rowlandson Mrs. Mary Rowlandson was the wife of a Harvard-educated minister by the name of Joseph Rowlandson. They resided in a small colonial town called Lancaster and they were the children of the first settlers here. We will come to see of Mary's ruthless captivity as well as her shocking release and look closely at the faith she kept in God, as well as her homecoming.

Mary Rowlandson was first taken captive during King Philips War, when Indians attacked and burnt down her village. She and her youngest child were separated from the rest of their family. Her youngest child being injured and sick died not too much longer after becoming captive. Mary was also injured but was pushed on to follow the Indians farther inland, all she had to get her through was her faith. Mary Rowlandson gives the people a distinct look into the life that she had lived during this time as a settler as well as a captive.

She shows us how society as well as herself viewed the Indians and as well as what she endured throughout her captivity. During this time period people living in the new colonies were afraid of the Indians, they looked at them as savages and devils. Their society was centered on great faith in God and Christianity and they were coming face to face with the devil, as they would put it.

All throughout the story you hear the word heathen used to describe the Indians, this word in itself shows how Mary as well as society viewed them. The settlers also used Johnson 2 words such as hellhound, merciless, devils and so on to describe the Indians. During Mary's captivity she used one description that compels the readers; it says that they were black creatures in...