Mary Rowlandson\'s Narrative Mary Rowlandson\'s

Mary Rowlandson's Narrative

Mary Rowlandson's the Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration: An Examination of Culture Clashes Through Literary Themes

From the epic poetry of Homer to the historical logs of Thucydides, the victor has always earned the right to function as the historical storyteller. In her short book, "the Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson," however, it is not the victors, but rather the captive who writes history. Because of this, Rowlandson's work can be considered a monumental piece of literature. In fact, University of California professor Harvey Pierce writes that this type of work, later called the captivity novel, has an important function in the literary realm as a piece of historical literature in which "historical fact" becomes second to "what the narrative was for the readers from whom it was written" (Pierce 1). Pierce notes that "what the narrative was" for its readers can range from "religious confessional" to "visceral thriller;" and Rowlandson's work exhibits a bit of both of these extremes (1). In fact, Rowlandson uses both the themes of "religious [confession]" and "visceral thriller" to establish the cultural gap between herself and the Native Americans.

Through constant reliance on and references to God and religion during her captivity, Rowlandson not only establishes her narrative as part "religious confessional," but also suggests the impenetrable cultural differences between herself and her captors. The most straightforward example of this can be observed in "the fifth remove" on the Sabbath Day. Rowlandson narrates that her captors "bade [her] go to work," to which she made the naive reply that she wished to rest, considering it was the Sabbath Day, and would do much more on the consecutive day. This logic was received with the natives' threat to "break [her] face." After this exchange, Rowlandson contemplates why God has allowed the Native Americans' continual escape from the Englishmen despite their constant defiance of Christian doctrine (Rowlandson).

Through this episode, one can not only conclude that Rowlandson uses the captivity narrative as a confessional -- questioning a God that allows "heathens" to escape the muskets of Christian men -- but one also realizes the stark difference between the Native's religious beliefs and hers. Contemporary observers reading Rowlandson's account would readily understand the differences between the two cultures' religious beliefs based on the vast amount of scholarship, research, and study available about both faiths. According to American Passages: A Literary Survey's renditions of Native American creation stories through the ancient oral tradition and contemporary poetry of Luci Tapahanso, Native American faiths "link people to the culture, myths, and land" through elaborate symbolic mythology ("Native Voices"). Similarly, contemporary students understand that the Christian faith presents a much more rigid view of creation, life, death, and life after death. Religion, therefore, represents a major gap between the two cultures. Because Rowlandson portrays the Native American religion as wrong or inferior, readers can quickly grasp the cultural gap that exists between the English and the Natives in this situation, allowing human sociology to replace historical fact as primarily in this consideration of the early conflict between Native Americans and English Colonists.

In addition to serving as a "religious confessional" that allows readers to understand the cultural gap between the Native Americans and the English, Rowlandson includes many details that can classify her work as a "visceral thriller," details that continue to expand on the theme of differences, or a gap, between the two cultures. She does this primarily through her descriptions of Native American cruelty -- most poignantly and passionately in her descriptions of the battle during her opening paragraphs. She repeatedly refers to the Native Americans' murdering the townspeople as "knock[ing] them over the head," a phrase which echoes the savagery and meaninglessness with which she believes the Native Americans are acting. More vividly characteristic of a "visceral thriller" is her description of a man who "begged of them his life." Instead, Rowlandson describes how the Natives "stripped him naked and split open his bowels" (Rowlandson). In addition to these grisly details of the Native Americans at war, the theme of woods and bleeding is prevalent throughout the book. Rowlandson often discusses her wounds as well as those of her child, and victims left bleeding are several times characterized as having "bleeding hearts" (Rowlandson).