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Summary Of Hell On Earth By Mary Rowlandson

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“Hell on Earth: A Puritan Woman’s Experience with the Natives”
“[A] lively resemblance of hell”—this is how Mary Rowlandson describes her first night of captivity by the Wampanoag Indians. This kind of description leads her contemporaries to view the Native Americans near English settlements as barbaric, immoral beasts. “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” was written around 1676. The narrative discusses her eleven-week captivity from Lancaster by the Wampanoag Indians. At this time, the Indians were laying siege on colonial towns as part of “King Phillip’s War” (Rowlandson 257). Rowlandson’s home is ransacked, and she and her children are taken captive while her husband, the prime minister of Lancaster, is out of town …show more content…

The Puritans and Rowlandson address the indigenous people as agents of Satan; she often refers them as “hell-hounds” and “pagans” (Rowlandson 267). She describes, “This was the dolefullest [first] night that ever my eyes saw: oh the roaring, and singing, and dancing, and yelling of those black creatures in the night, which made the place a lively resemblance of hell” (Rowlandson 259). Rowlandson begins to feel terrified and suffocated by the “black creatures” that are enjoying the destruction they cause to the innocent people in Lancaster. She believes the Native Americans are the tools God is using to punish the colonists for committing sins and to test the Puritans’ faithfulness. As Lang says, “Each incident of Rowlandson's life in captivity--from the fact that she did not get her feet wet in her first river crossing to her new distaste for tobacco--confirms the justice of God's past and present dealings with her, and each finds its type in the Bible” (“Mary”). Rowlandson does an excellent job reinforcing her faith throughout the journey; she follows the scriptures in the Bible for every good or bad event that occurs to

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Mary Rowlandson was held captive by the Narragansetts in 1676. She wrote a book called A True History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson telling about the uncertainties of the “violent English advance “civilization” and “savagery”(Takaki 43). Since the English stereotype at the time were that Native Indians were inferior, Rowlandson's account, which was significant to U.S. History was one of many stories told to change the thinking of the settlers. The Indians way of life was foreign to them. They didn't understand their ways.

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Enraged by the conviction of three Indians for the murder of Sassamon, the Wampanoags attacked farms of the Puritans in the summer of 1675. An Englishman shot a Wampanoag three days later, and the Wampanoags reacted by assaulted a group of Puritans. Both the Indians and English suffered greatly from King Philip’s

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Megan Rochelle Professor Devin Pizzino English 10 November 2015 Title The Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson is a personal account, written by Mary Rowlandson in 1682. In her accounts, Rowlandson tells the readers of what life in captivity was truly like for her. Mary Rowlandson ultimately lost everything by an Indian attack on her town of Lancaster, Massachusetts in 1675.

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Her calling the Indians savage, barbarian, wolves, and pagans is also a reflection of her first-person perspective. Moreover, after Rowlandson was ransomed, she expressed her gratitude not to the Puritans who raised the money, but to the God. She also considered the torment as the providence of the God to make her a better Christian with a stronger faith. The whole book shows the audiences a strong religious feature and emphasizes the theme of Divine Providence from her first-person point of

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In this vivid narrative, Rowlandson inadvertently contradicts herself in many parts of her story. The striking irony of these contradictions helps the reader understand that there is much more to this story than a white settler attempting to survive in the Indian culture. Time after again Rowlandson judges the natives by calling them “black creatures

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In early February of 1675 the Indians infiltrated the town of Lancaster. They were not looking for money, they were looking for blood. The blood of Christians. Twenty-four English men, women and children survived this maliciousness, only to be held captive by the Indians. The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, tells the tale of Mary Rowlandson’s account as a prisoner for almost 12 weeks.

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A woman’s place in Puritan society was very limited during these times. A preface was added to her narrative by a puritan pastor as approval for her to publish her prose. Before her captivity Rowlandson didn’t know what a struggle consisted of. She was the typical housewife in a Puritan society. She never went without food, shelter, or clothing before her captivity.

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For example, although she is consumed with worry and fear over the state of her children, Rowlandson finds immense relief when one of her captors gives her a Bible he took from a neighboring settlement. However, Rowlandson finds greater relief when she “opened [her] Bible to read, and the Lord brought that precious Scripture to [her]” (Rowlandson 264). Rowlandson believes that God is playing an active role in her life through guiding her to scripture in order to bring her relief and comfort during her extended captivity. Additionally, Rowlandson believes God is directly intervening in her daily life by looking out for her and protecting her during her captivity. To explain, while traveling with her captors, Rowlandson is told she must cross a river to escape a search party despite the cold weather; although some members of her company were submerged waist deep into the frigid water, Rowlandson “did not wet [her] foot…which cannot but be acknowledged as a favor of God to [her] weakened body” (Rowlandson 265).

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