A Narrative Of The Captivity And Restoration Mary Rowlandson Essay

Throughout Mary Rowlandson’s “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration,” Rowlandson repeatedly makes mention to the idea of Puritan dominance over Native Americans. Rowlandson exemplifies this through the use of harsh diction, imagery, and biblical allusions. Rowlandson employs these methods in order to create a chasm between her people, the Puritans, and her captors, the Native Americans. Throughout the text, Rowlandson paints the Puritan community as “God’s chosen people,” justifying their forceful taking of Native land that lead to the onset of King Philip’s war. Ironically, many of Rowlandson’s techniques unintentionally portray her as more savage and immoral than her Native captors.
Throughout her narrative, Rowlandson employs the use of harsh diction in order to paint the Natives as barbarous and uncivilized. For example, upon the death of her child, Weetamoo, Rowlandson’s captor’s wife, is described as “howling (Rowlandson 274).” The use of this particular word alludes to the howl of an animal,

Rowlandson frequently alludes to the book of Job- drawing a parallel between herself and the perfect Christian martyr. By describing her captors in association with Hell, she casts them as, not only, enemies of the Puritans, but enemies of God as well. Rowlandson does suffer the wrath of her mistress; however, she is met with much kindness from other Natives. For example, she is even given a Bible by one of her “savage” captors (Rowlandson 263). She is offered food by many other Natives (Rowlandson 269). Rowlandson is never beaten nor tortured. The actions are hardly what one would expect from “savages.” Conversely, Rowlandson mentions her taking of food from a child because they could not chew it (277). This episode shows another side of Rowlandson, one that is not at all compatible with the Biblical sentiments she so often alludes