Native American Society Vs. Puritan Society

Mary Rowlandson lived a normal Christian life in the colonies up to the raid in her town. The interesting part comes in when she is a White captive which switches the authority to the Native Americans. While comparing to Sojourner Truth is born into slavery and the authority has always been the White masters. Within their society, there was a difference of individual oppression that is influenced on how their masters treated them. In Mary Rowlandson’s narrative, it stated “I turned homeward again, and met with my master. He showed me the way to my son”. This emphasizes on the idea that Native Americans were not savages or abusive towards Rowlandson because her master would allow her to go see her son. And when she could not figure the way there, the master guided her back to her son. The Native Americans were more respect towards Rowlandson because she was an English woman. She was valuable to them and could be traded for something they needed. While Sojourner Truth experienced the ruthless from her master. In her narrative, it states “ he gave her the cruelest whipping she was ever tortured with. He whipped her till the flesh was deeply lacerated, and the blood streamed from her wounds–and the scars remain to the present day, to testify to the fact.” Truth endured the pain and was mistreated like every other slave. As an individual, her master could oppress Truth because he ultimately has the power over her and that relationship is accepted in their societal norms, therefore Truth did not have the strength to go against the Master. Sojourner Truth was oppressed as an individual because her master had left scars of her beating, which would remind Truth that she was nothing, but

Religion played a very important role in both Native American and Puritan society, though their idea’s differed greatly. The puritans were very religious people, and it mattered more of what God thought of them more than anything and what everyone else thought didn’t matter as much. While the Puritans were the very religious ones, the Native Americans cared more about viewing people for who they were as people than their religious beliefs. Although the Native Americans had their own religious beliefs, the Puritans also thought that the Native Americans needed to “prove themselves worthy”, of their religious beliefs. The Puritans did not believe that the Native Americans had any kind of regulation on their own lives. It was very

According to Downing, Rowlandson was writing her spiritual autobiography by going through her lowest points to her somewhat higher points of her captivity. Downing says, “… she interprets her suffering as a result of divine judgment. As she continues, however, she is reminded that she can be saved by humbling herself before God …” (254). Downing said that this was a big turning point for Rowlandson and that she now saw her captivity as a form of chastisement from God rather than being punished for her sins. Downing says that, “this emphasis on chastisement is obviously intended as a lesson not only for Rowlandson herself, but for the Puritan community in general”

They often went to a Native American church if they attend to it they were religious. And they often did it in a little hut. And they sat in a circle around a little fire. They would sit there and talk to god inside their head or aloud. They would say something about not letting them die or not letting them starve.

Mrs. Rowlandson continued her crusade to paint Native Americans as horrible beings in her accounts of how they were not “real” Christians, even if they had converted. It is crucial to consider that the Puritans were not focused on converting the Natives surrounding them to Christianity, so this point was most likely not meant to say that the Native were not worthy of being Christian, but to show that they considered themselves Christians, but did not act as a respectable Puritan Christian

Mary Rowlandson was a Puritan colonist of the town of Lancaster, who was captured by Indians that attacked her village and sized a number of colonists as captives. Rowlandson, like many Puritans of her time, held strong religious beliefs about God and about the way he expresses his will (love and lessons) through one’s struggles in life. This Puritan ideology of hers was never more apparent than in her text called, “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson”.

In "A Narrative of Captivity and Restoration of Mary Rowlandson," Mary Rowlandson is forced out of her home along with her children by the Native American people. The relationship between the Native American people and Mary Rowlandson begins in a very harsh way as they attack the Garrison, and capture her. Native Americans and colonial Americans have always hated each other the Natives wanting the white men to leave their land, and the colonial American believing that it is their right to have this land. During the writing of Rowlandson, she shows several examples of the Native Americans showing her sympathy and helping her even though she is captured by them. Mary Rowlandson mentions on several occasions how the Native American’s are pagans as if their religion is below her own, this also causes serval problems between the Natives and Mary Rowlandson.

TThe Puritans were a devout spiritual group that left England and traveled to North America seeking religious freedom from the Church of England. The Puritans trusted that the word of God was the law of the land and it presented them with a plan for surviving. Puritans believed in treating one another with respect, having benevolence for the fellow mankind, loving one another as if they were family and God would reward them based on how well they treated their neighbors. The Puritans, who believed all beings must be honorable to one another, hold themselves with high morals in society yet they failed to realize that their actions were not acceptable or Godly like because they took advantage and hurt the natives. They described the natives, as undisciplined savages, beasts and they believed that the natives did not have the right to retaliate. The Natives were certainly justified with their vengeance since their land was being invaded, their way of life was being jeopardized, and they were targets of colonization by the Puritans. The immigrants who traveled land forced harshest treatments on the natives. Everything was taken away for the sake of advancement of civilization, the conversion to Christianity, and displacing of Indian tribes.

2016). What I found after the research is that medicine men and woman, or spiritual leaders of the Native American tribes had the ability to assist in areas of healing, or called the spirits to offer good weather, etc. This is important because this indicates a leadership ability, and those that are wise, knowledgeable, and have experience were entitled to this position (Britanica). What I find fascinating about this aspect of their religion, is that it connects to many of the other aspects they share. In order for them to connect to nature, perform rituals, find a vision quest and connect to the spirit world, all these combinations are intertwined (Britanica). What I was able to find, is that the spirit world guided the Native Americans to become connected with their practices. Whether they wanted to have a better hunt, or prosperous crops, healthy tribe members, everything was connected through the spirits that guided them. Although they did not have many references to death and the afterlife, the spirit was mentioned many times as it still remained, as long as those that are living still remembered the dead. What I also found unique and interesting is that the basic religious functions are performed by every member of the group, meaning that there was not much distinction between the tribe in terms of who was able to perform what duties, as there was a little need for trained professional needed to perform these rituals (Hopfe et al. 2016). Despite their religious practices, when they were driven by the European man, slowly the population died off and converted to Native American

The colonial period in American literature was a vast time, within it were the Puritans, the Rationalists, and the Native Americans. The Puritans were a group that governed through theocracy, with many factors leading to their demise. The Rationalists were a group that existed during the same time frame as the Puritans, but governed by reason rather than religion, and produced many names that we know today. The Native American’s were a group that lived in America long before Puritans or Rationalists came to this land, they thrived on the land and their beliefs. In my paper, I will be discussing each of these three groups; what they were about, and some main points.

It is obvious to anyone who has a genuine understanding of the Puritans, to arrive at the conclusion that they relied heavily on their individual liberates. Despite the fact that, it is generally accepted by most, that the Puritans were an inundating society. This is merely a hasty generalization. Regardless of how outsiders viewed the Puritans, they accomplished remarkable deeds over their duration in history.

Accordingly, the narrative contains both literal and symbolic dimensions. Before the attack on her village and her capture by the Native Americans, She lived a blissful and pleasurable life with her family. She had a nice home, comfortable furnishing, and ate the best of foods. Although Rowlandson’s husband was a minister and she was a Christian, she did not feel she lived her life as devoted or committed, as she should be; she could have prayed more or been more devoted

Throughout Mary Rowlandson's account of being captured by Native Americans, she mentions her family frequently; however, she hardly mentions them by name or talks about what they were like. This immediately creates a feeling of distance in the reader's mind, because it could suggest many things about what her family was like before they got separated. She also shows us what looks to be a great deal of distance between her and her youngest daughter Sarah who died in her arms. When Rowlandson first mentions her youngest daughter she calls her a "poor wounded babe" (130) which suggests that there is a distance between the two. However, this may not be the way that the events actually happened because she wrote the narrative six years after she was reunited with her family. This opens up the idea that this may also have been a way for her to cope with losing a child in her arms. It could also show that she may have not been the only person to write the narrative. These two ideas work together because if Rowlandson does not have to write all of the painful parts, she would not have had to relive the guilt or sorrow. Mary Rowlandson makes the reader think she is distant from her family because she uses it as a way to cope with the pain of being separated from them, and to show the Puritans that being close to god will help you with any pain.

“Sometimes it is impossible to know where you are headed without reflecting on where you came from. Understanding your heritage, your roots and your ancestry is an important part of carving out your adventure.” When reading from Close Range and A Radiant Curve the reader gets the feeling that both of these women have strong ties to their heritage, their roots. It is evident in Luci Tapahonso’s poem “The warp is even: taut vertical loops”. Tapahonso wants the reader to feel close to her family as she feels. “Suddenly I miss my father to. How he savored such mornings (Tapahonso 3).”

Rowlandson is a puritan, which plays a central role in her life. When being confronted with a tragic Indian attack, Rowlandson questions her assessment of herself, but turns to the bible within her struggles casting herself alternately as Job, whose suffering is a test of his faith. “as he wounded me with one hand, so he healed me with the other.” (3).