The Unredeemed Captive Analysis

Throughout the stories told in both Mohawk Saint and The Unredeemed Captive, the unintended consequences of converting the American Indians to Christianity and trying to bring a Protestant back from American Indian Catholicism were powerful players in the unfolding events. In both of these stories, the unintended consequences of the encounters between the Christian religious and American Indian converts inspired the redefinition of the previously held definitions of who could be saintly and open to salvation. In the case of Mohawk Saint, this occurred when the Jesuits priests eventually began to tell the story of a possible saint, Catherine, although she was a Mohawk woman. In The Unredeemed Captive, the Williams family had to deal with the unintended consequences of their attempts to bring Eunice

Eunice also married a Mohawk man, binding her “…to the place they have made their own.” Another component of Eunice’s Mohawk identity was her conversion to their adopted religion, Catholicism. This was an essential part of the community, establishing her connection with the Mohawks even more: “…she became a Catholic when still a child: this, too, was part of her ongoing transformation.” While Eunice was comfortable with her decisions and never felt compelled to return home herself, her family was passionate about her return home and to Protestantism. However, they first had to accept Eunice’s background or she would never consider them a part of her life. Upon their first contact to meet with Eunice, she refused to speak with them or return home, “not to stay, not for a visit either.” Eunice was confident in her adopted Mohawk identity, consequentially forcing her family at home to accept these features of her if they wanted contact, an unintended consequence of their attempts to bring her