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Compare And Contrast Equiano And Mrs Rowlandson

770 Words4 Pages

It is no secret that many Americans were held ransom by Native Americans, or that many African Americans were taken captive to be sold into the slave trade throughout the early American history. “Captivity narratives” are one of the main ways we learn today about the brave souls who overcame these hardships. A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Rowlandson and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African are two very popular “captivity narratives” in American literature. Even though there are clear differences between the two narratives, surprisingly there are also a lot of similarities. During this essay the similarities and differences of Mrs. Rowlandson’s and Olaudah Equiano’s …show more content…

Rowlandson was a white woman, mother of three, and the wife of a Puritan minister. Rowlandson’s story involved being taken hostage with her three children by Native Americans and held for ransom. Rowlandson wrote, “On the tenth of February 1675, came the Indians with great numbers upon Lancaster: their first coming was about sun rising; hearing the noise of some guns, we looked out; several houses were burning, and the smoke ascending to heaven” (Baym, 236) On the other hand though, Olaudah Equiano was just an eleven year old African American boy when he was taken captive from his native land with his sister. Equiano narrated, “One day, when all our people were gone out to their works as usual, and I and my dear sister were left to mind the house, two men and a woman got over our walls, and in a moment seized us both, and, without giving us time to cry out, or make resistance, they stopped our mouths, and ran off with us into the nearest wood.” (Baym, 677) Unlike Rowlandson, Equiano was not held for ransom, after being captured he was sold into the American slave trade. Both Rowlandson and Equiano were separated from their families, and moved numerous times during their captivity. Remarkably enough, during the times they were relocated, they both were reunited with a family member for a period of time. Rowlandson was reunited with her daughter, while Equiano was reunited with his

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The autobiography of Olaudah Equiano, also known as Gustavus Vass, was first published in 1789. However, his exert from the narrative, “An African captive describes the middle passage” puts slave trade into perspective. This writing accounts for the horrible mistreatment of Equiano and other slaves along with him during his journey across the middle passage. “I now saw myself deprived of all chance of returning to my native country” [Document Collection 23]. Olaudah Equiano was kidnapped from his homeland in Nigeria and sold to slave traders heading west.

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There is no captivity novel that contains nothing but pleasure and comfort. In other words, every captivity novel contains a large amount of sorrow. In the narratives, Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano both experienced massive amounts of misfortune during their periods of captivity. For example, Rowlandson writes of her daughter dying from wounds she sustained during the mass kidnapping, murder, and pillage

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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.

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Mary Rowlandson,” the story of the town of Lancaster being under attack by the Native Americans during the King Philip war is told. The Native Americans were burning the citizens’ houses down and opening fire on them, killing and injuring hundreds of them. Some of those who were not killed were taken captive. Amongst those who were captured were Mary Rowlandson and her youngest child. The Native Americans took the captured survivors from their town into the wilderness.

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In Equiano's personal slave narrative, "The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African", Equiano flips the idea that the African people are backwards and barbaric, thus ripe for slavery, by demonstrating his personal exceptionalism through his literacy to show that it is truly the white people who are backwards and barbaric through their own hypocrisy. This reversal that Equiano demonstrates in his slave narrative shows that the savagery of African people exists as a misconception and makes the reader fully grasp the need to abolish slavery and any inequality present. On page seventy-eight, Equiano uses first person pronouns like 'I', 'my', and 'me' to separate himself from the other African people and whites around him. This separation that Equiano creates demonstrates his exceptionalism as an African slave.

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In the kidnappings of Equiano and Rowlandson they both can relate to each other’s feelings. Giving information to colonists led to the kidnapping of Mary while Equiano was captured to be a slave. Treated poorly and being starved can take a toll on your body making your body slow down. Being in the same time periods as slavery and wars it is not a safe environment.

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In the Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, Rowlandson narrates the take over of Lancaster by Indians during King Phillip’s War. During that time, Rowlandson goes through tragic occurrences including the loss of her own child, family, and friends. Rowlandson was forced to live awful living circumstances while fighting to maintain her strong faith in God. At first she’s appalled by the life the Indians live, although as time progresses her dependence on them fades. Rowlandson’s attitude towards the Indians maintained a view that they were enemies.

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Captivity is defined as the state of being imprisoned or confined. A tragic experience is given a whole new perspective from Louise Erdrich 's poem, “Captivity”. Through descriptive imagery and a melancholic tone, we can see the poem and theme develop in her words. Erdrich takes a quote from Mary Rowlandson’s narrative about her imprisonment by the Native Americans and her response to this brings readers a different story based off of the epigraph. Louise Erdrich compiles various literary devices to convey her theme of sympathy, and her poem “Captivity” through specific and descriptive language brings a whole new meaning to Mary Rowlandson’s narrative.

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