Mary Rowlandson Captivity Analysis

Mrs. Mary Rowlandson endured eleven weeks and five days of captivity among the Wampanoag Indians. Her unwavering desire to return to her family and faith in God provided the strength she needed in order to survive. The scriptures from a bible provided her with hope and determination to live another day. Despite the trials and tribulations, she encountered, she was never forsaken by the belief that God’s Providence was ultimately in her favor. Many a time, Mary wanted to give up and leave this world. It was her faith in God and the vision of reuniting with her family that motivated her through the captivity. Mary Rowlandson was only but thirty-nine years young when the Wampanoag Indians attacked her village in Lancaster, Massachusetts. Her husband of twenty years, a minister, was away in Boston at the time of the attack. That day, Mary witnessed the gruesome slaughter of friends and family, to include her own sister, as the Indians attacked with simple weapons and guns. The assault on her own home left one alive, herself, “thus were we butchered by those merciless heathen, standing amazed, with the blood running down to our heels” (258). Mary spoke of past conversations that if and when the Indians attack, she would rather …show more content…
Physical nourishment was Mary’s worst enemy as she struggled with starvation. However, she was astonished how the Native Americans could live off, basically, everything the land provided to include tree bark. Mary laminated on how God provided the very substance need for her enemies to survive, “the Lord feeds and nourishes them up to be a scourge to the whole land” (284). Mary, too, adjusted to the lifestyle of her enemies for the sole purpose of surviving captivity and return to her loving husband and children so she could tell others of her

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