A Narrative Of The Captivity Mary Rowlandson Summary

There are many stories that tell about the horrors of captivity but not like that of Mary Rowlandson. In her record of her life in captivity called A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, she writes a heart-breaking and horror filled recap of her time in captivity. Rowlandson is explaining how her captors treated her, what she lost in her insane reality, and what kept her strong throughout her days in captivity.

Mary Rowlandson’s time in captivity is one that she’ll never forget. What she really won’t forget was how the Indians treated her when capturing her. She viewed the Indians as terrorists invading her home and this was something she would have never thought she would see with her own eyes. (258) At the

Mary Rowlandson’s first major loss was her child. Same would go for Hannah Dustan as she had to watch her child get murdered. The ones in captivity had plenty to lose and did lose plenty. The captors could have been seen as inhumane and evil as they watched others suffer while they laugh. As Mary Rowlandson states, “Then they set me upon a horse with my wounded child in my lap, and there being no furniture upon the horses back, as we were going down a steep hill we both fell over the horse’s head at which they, like inhumane creatures, laughed, and rejoiced to see it though I thought we should there have ended our days, as overcome with so many difficulties” (260). Stating this Mary Rowlandson describes how cruel the Indians were as they carelessly watched her and her child suffer. While losing their families and being humiliated, the slaves and captives also had to starve or eat bad quality food while the Indians ate luxuriously. J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeur describes what he saw the slaves going through as he states, “The chosen race eat, drink and live happy, while the unfortunate one grubs up the ground, raises indigo, or husks the rice; exposed to a sun full as scorching as their native one; without the support of good food, without the cordials of any cheering liquor” (616). He is stating that the slaves who were black had to go out and dig their food up from the ground in the hot sun and provide their own food while the other race got their food provided for them. He then continues to describe the horrible conditions the slaves went through and it eventually encouraged him to move. He believed that slavery wasn’t human or fair as everyone should be treated the