Mary Rowlandson Captivity Analysis

Mary Rowlandson’s autobiographical account is about the clash between Indians and British colonists in Massachusetts during King Philip’s War. King Philip was a Wampanoag chief who began attacking colonial settlements between 1675 and 1676. Mary was a Puritan colonist who described her capture that occurred during an Indian raid and what her captivity was like. She describes the misery of her period of captivity while being held hostage by Wampanoag Indians for over 11 weeks. Rowlandson remained true to her puritan ideals and vividly expressed it in her writing despite the horrid conditions she endured. Native Americans raided the town of Lancaster, Massachusetts in February of 1675 in an attempt to regain their tribal lands. The Narraganset Indians overwhelmed the protectors of their village and took 24 captives,

Mary Rowlandson was a remarkable writer whose work tells an important piece of Colonial America’s history. It depicts how English colonists and Native American people of the Massachusetts region misunderstood each other. Her account became popular reading and reads much like a novel with use of descriptive and creative writing, although the language used is a bit difficult for modern readers as it is written in a more formal manner than we are accustomed to today. God’s intervention is ever present throughout the account and she believed that everything that happens to her or to any other human being is caused by God and carries with it a meaning or lesson. God controls all worldly events and determines their outcomes and Rowlandson applied the Puritan principles and ideals during her time as a captive. Hers is a story of the triumph of faith and hope over the most unimaginable