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Mary Rowlandson Narrative

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Captivity narratives are stories about captured people whom enemies consider as uncivilized or whose customs and beliefs are different from the general population. Mary White Rowlandson is an American woman during the colonial times who was captured during the war between King Phillip and the Native Americans (Rowlandson, np). She was held ransom for eleven weeks before being released. She wrote the narrative “The Sovereignty and Goodness of God” more known as “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson.” One of the main themes of Rowlandson’s narrative is about faith in God along with the uncertainty of life. However, if we are going to change the entire story and make it more of a faith narrative, we can see that the survival experienced by the captive at the hands of the enemies is just …show more content…
This is in contrary with the kind of faith being shown by the colonizers whom strongly believe that they are more superior to the Indians because they are civilized and are chosen by God to spread His word to mankind. With this kind of opposing view about religion, the clash of idea becomes the topic of interest for the readers. It seems like the captivity narrative is just a backdrop of the religious experiences of the people. Moreover, the uncertainty of life that Rowlandson experienced during the course of her captivity makes her realize that no one is immune to death and that life can be short. Everything that people possess can disappear without apparent warning and being alive as a captivity is someone to be proud of because there is no guarantee that she can survive for the rest of the day. If we are going to associate this with the faith that Rowlandson has, we can see a different aspect of the story as a faith narrative and not as a capture

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