Naked And Alone By Mary Rowlandson Summary

barbarians (Scarborough 122). Dissatisfied with such a state of things, indigenous tribes were trying to avenge and initiated unpredictable attacks on the settlements of newcomers. Mary Rowlandson, her family, and other people became the victims of such an attack and became captives of cruel Indians. Native Americans had no respect for Europeans and many captives were killed. Mary Rowlandson realized that the only way to salvation was religion. Being Puritan woman, she was reading Bible verses about salvation in order to find internal power to overcome all the problems. Mary Rowlandson perceived this difficult life situation as the God’s will. She stated that “I cannot express to man the affliction that lay upon my Spirit, but the Lord me at

As it was mentioned above, culture and religion were the core topics of these literary works. Although all three main characters were trying to follow their own moral principles, cultural, and religious principles, they had several common features. Firstly, they all were real Christians who were ready to suffer for their sins. Allen argued that “The first-person and chronicled narratives present the captives as Christian subjects, who as patient sufferers came to serve God’s purpose by demonstrating curative and superhuman marvels wrought in his name” (“Naked and Alone” 14). Feeling a strong desire to become exemplary Christians, they had no moral right to complain and show fear or weakness. God was the source of help and relief for them and these people always tried to remain strong in order to show the power of Christianity to Native Americans. Their boundless faith in God inspired them in their efforts to support other captives. Secondly, all three main characters of the considered captivity narratives had a strong understanding of the fact that this period of life was a punishment for the sins of all Christians. Consequently, they needed to pay a heavy price for sins of those people who forgot about God. Moreover, these authors also realized that their captivity experience could be useful to others. Attacks of Indian Americans were

Analysis of cultural and religious differences of the considered captivity narratives can also help identify the motives and writing goals of each author. For example, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca spent nearly nine years in captivity and was rather difficult for him to preserve his European cultural identity and not to adapt to cultural and religious realities of his captors. Moreover, he had no skills to survive in unknown American lands and his collaboration with indigenous tribes was the only option for him. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his friends were desperately striving to find their niche in the Indian society. Although this Spanish man had a Christian education, he had to observe in various religious rituals of local people. The long time in captivity forced him to revise his worldview and feel respect for Native Americans. For example, their strong connection with nature and ability to survive in difficult situations surprised the author. Furthermore, he adapted to their lifestyle and became a shaman who helped people overcome their diseases. However, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca did not forget about the country of his origin and his religion. When Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his friends saw other Christians, they were really excited about this fact. He stated that “When we saw sure signs of