The Story The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson

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The story The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson tells the reader about the unusual and challenging fate of a woman and her family who the Native Americans capture after a tribal raid on a town. Mary Rowlandson describes her life and everything that happened around her during her captivity and shares her experiences in her narrative. The heroine is surprised and confused by how strange and unusual the experience of being held captive by Indians was, who she initially thought were bloodthirsty savages.

First of all, the main character despises and feels contempt for Native Americans. This is shown in her treatment of the Indians as trash, dirt, and filth and her complete lack of acceptance of their customs. Nevertheless, throughout her captivity, until she is wholly freed, she begins to delve into the culture of the tribe and even shows an understanding of certain customs, such as food (Rowlandson, 2019). Indians highly unusual behavior also caused difficulty for her in dealing with them. Every day the heroine could not even assume how the invaders would treat her today. One day they were kind and affectionate to the captives, feeding them and giving them gifts, and the next day, on the contrary, they starved and mocked them (Rowlandson, 2019). This behavior is illogical to the heroine because this captivity seemed very unusual and unpredictable. A pivotal moment was when one of the Indians gave the heroine a Bible, which shows respect and care on the captors part.

The good behavior of the invaders is an astonishing phenomenon since they have no particular point or reason to treat their captives in a good way, nor do they get any profits from it. This is especially unusual from the point of view that Indians are often described as bloodthirsty and dangerous savage murderers. However, in addition to being surprising, it also allows us to penetrate Indian culture more deeply, realizing that Europeans perceptions of them are often misconceptions.

Reference

Rowlandson, M. (2019). Narrative of the captivity and restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. New York History Review.

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