Mary Rowlandson - The Sovereignty and Goodness of God

The Sovereignty and Goodness of God

After her return, Rowlandson wrote a narrative of her captivity recounting the stages of her odyssey in twenty distinct "Removes" or journeys. During the attack on Lancaster, she witnessed the murder of friends and family, some stripped naked and disemboweled. Upon her capture, she travelled with her youngest child Sarah, suffering starvation and depression en route to an Indian village. Sarah, aged 6 years and 5 months, died shortly after arriving in the village. Mary and her other surviving child were kept separately and sold as property, until she was finally reunited with her husband. During her captivity, Rowlandson sought her guidance from the Bible; the text of her narrative is replete with verses and references describing conditions similar to her own.

Rowlandson's book became one of the era's best-sellers, going through four editions in one year. The tensions between colonists and Native Americans, particularly in the aftermath of King Philip's War, were a source of anxiety in the colonies. While fearing losing connection to their own society, colonists were intensely curious about the experience of one who had been "over the line", as a captive of American Indians, and returned to colonial society. Many literate English people were familiar with the captivity narratives written by British sailors and passengers during the 17th century, who were often taken captive at sea off North Africa and sometimes sold into slavery in the Middle East. The narratives were often expressed as spiritual journeys and redemptions.

Rowlandson's book earned the colonist an important place in the history of American literature. A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson is a frequently cited example of a captivity narrative. This important American literary genre was drawn from by the later nineteenth-century writers James Fenimore Cooper, Ann Bleecker, John Williams, and James Seaver, in their portrayal of colonial times. Because of Rowlandson's close encounter with her Indian captors, her book is interesting for its treatment of cultural contact. Finally, in its use of autobiography, Biblical typology, and homage to the "Jeremiad", Rowlandson's book helps the reader understand the Puritan mind.