The Unredeemed Captive by John Demos Essay

A true story of how a man was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, May God Have Mercy exposes the imperfections in the criminal justice system and how it led to the death of an innocent man. Roger Coleman's case became the main story on nightly newscasts and prominent television shows such as Larry King Live, Nightline, Good Morning America, and the Today Show. Many crucial, yet harmful decisions were made that ultimately resulted in an innocent man's execution at the death house in Greensville, Virginia. The police, the prosecutor, and the Judge can all be held responsible for Coleman's death. However, the reason Roger Coleman was not acquitted of the murder of Wanda McCoy in the first place and thus in a position to be executed was

“The Autobiography of a Runaway Slave” revolves around the life of Esteban Montejo: who once set his life is the Caribbean island of Cuba; in which this story provides readers with another distinctive approach to teaching the lives of slavery. As the narration progresses through this writing, readers consequently have many opportunities to annotate how the abolition of slavery played a great role in his personal life. Evidently, whether it is intentional or unintentional, the narrator frequently mentions the ending of slavery, as he substantially detailed “…till slavery left Cuba,” (Barnet 38); “… I got to know all these people better after slavery was abolished,” (Barnet 58); and “It was after Abolition that the term ‘effeminate’ came into

Mary Rowlandson was a devoted, Puritan woman of the 1600’s who would eventually go on to pave the way for an entire genre—the captivity genre/narrative. She had several family members murdered and was held captive by Native Americans, but was eventually reunited with her fellow Puritans. She details her experiences in A Narrative of Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. Rowlandson showcases her biblical typology many times and her story and a prime example shown is when she writes, “… my heart began to fail: and I fell aweeping… Although I had met with so much affliction… yet I could not shed one tear…” (Rowlandson 279). She uses typology to understand what is going on in her life and around her and this is displayed when she adds, “But now I may say as Psalm 137.1, ‘By the Rivers of Babylon, there we sate down: yea, we wept when we remembered Zion,” (Rowlandson 279). She used the bible to understand her experiences rather than to see what it is like. She wrote during a very devout, religious era and

The Unredeemed Captive tells a story of struggles a family went through to stay true to one another. Eunice Williams’ was taken captive and family went through many obstacles to try and get her home. Both Eunice and her family were captured together along with many other town residents in the Deerfield Massacre of 1704. Demos precisely described the Deerfield raid along with the process of traveling to Canada. Throughout the book, Demos also covered some individual captive experiences and events. Demos showed the life of Eunice before her life was changed and how it would be if she was not taken. He stated why the raid was the way it was and showed the success of it.

During this time the only thing predictable about politics in Reconstruction was its unpredictability. Colfax massacre being one of the bloodiest encounters of Reconstruction, serves as the base to Nicholas Lemann's book. Redemption is a story that shows the violent overthrow of Reconstruction in Louisiana and Mississippi in the 1870s. Brief knowledge is known to historian, but very little is known by the general public. In Lemann’s demonstration of the Civil War and Reconstruction, "redemption" is a very ironic term, and a huge play on words. Redemption was a term white supremacists used to commemorate the destruction of what they thought to be the vile imposition. Lemann’s way of embracing the white supremacist nomenclature, he made the paradoxes and the contradictions much more vivid.

This week’s reading focused on prisons. The Society of Captives was written by Gresham M. Sykes in 1958. He conducted a study on a maximum security prison in New Jersey. Chapter 1 focused on the prison and its settings. The author goes into detail about the size of the cells and what the prison actually looks like. He also writes about how the prisoner is no longer seen as man but as a number. My Sunday school teacher visits prisons to teach about the bible. He has commented to me that is exactly how certain correction officers see the prisoners. They are nothing but a number to some individuals. This can lower their self-image (Sykes, 1958).

When someone hears the phrase “held captive”, usually wild animals come to mind. No one ever really thinks of humans as being held captive. However, in Daniel Quinn’s 1992 novel Ishmael, the character of Ishmael tries teaching the story’s narrator to think of ways in which he has been held captive by both internal and external forces. Society has a way of making people feel like they need to do certain things to be successful, so basically society is holding people captive by holding them back from living the way they want to. As humans, we also have ways of holding ourselves captive. Ishmael compares our captivity with a form of blindness. Throughout the novel, Quinn helps the reader realize what they are blind to and what they are

An Indian attack on Lancaster during King Phillip’s War resulted in the capture of twenty-four people. Mary Rowlandson was among these captives, and the resulting captivity narrative, titled The Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, published in 1682, is formed based on her memory. Rowlandson’s captivity narrative carried great significance in that it came to be used as a didactic Jeremiad, leading its Calvinist audience back towards God’s path and away from an allegorical wilderness.

Most of us have been stuck inside during a snowstorm at some point. We may have wanted to get out of the house, but we couldn’t. We were trapped inside. Scotty, one of the kids stuck at Tattawa Regional High School, has this same problem, but worse. Scotty is one of seven students that are stuck at Tattawa Regional High School during a massive snowstorm. After the power shuts off and heat begins to seep out of the building, the students begin a race against time to escape the school which could soon become their icy grave. In the story Trapped, Michael Northrop uses descriptive language to introduce a problem, develop a mood, and create suspense.

In this book Fredrick Douglass finds shows himself growing up as a slave in Baltimore, Maryland. He eventually escapes from his master and becomes a run away slave as he flees to the north. Douglass however is most popularly known for his pressure on the supreme court to obtain equal rights for African American citizens. He made huge advances in civil rights for his fellow African American brothers and sisters. His contributions have caused a balancing of society that is still getting better to this day.

Authors often exaggerate or revise small details of their own books in order to produce an emotion in the reader instead of a factual representation. However, this does not make authors to be liers, only fabricators. In times or social unjust it is necessary for the oppressed to voice their opinions for the purpose of gaining equality. As it may seem immoral to twist truths, if done correctly it will strengthen the author's message, without compromising the authenticity of the plot. One can see this in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, along with his, My Bondage and My Freedom. Both novels are accounts of Douglass’ troublesome journey from a slave to a freeman. These heroic accounts served as prominent and respected

The life one treasures and takes for granted today can be so easily erased in the blink of an eye and gone tomorrow. Therefore, not only is it important to cherish how one lives for today and now, but it’s also important to how one can overcome the misfortunes and hardships they may suffer; tragedy can make a person or break a person. Mary Rowlandson’s experience during her eleven weeks of captivity as documented in “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson” is a perfect answer to the above argument. The eleven weeks she experienced as a prisoner of her Indian captors proves to be a pivotal occasion in her life, which changes her feelings, lifestyle, and attitude as well towards her abductors. By the end of her horrifying experience, she rises more profoundly grounded in every way: mentally, physically, and spiritually with a new outlook on life, closer to God, and a newfound opinion of the Indians.

“I am black, I am black!” constantly sprinkles Browning’s 1846 narrative, “The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point.” The phrase takes aim at American slavery and reminds us that its prisoners “had no claim to love and bliss,” (92) while in servitude. Boldly, the speaker asks us to bear witness to the human leftovers of this system of violence, especially in the case of a female slave at Plymouth Rock. Here, she debates existence, exposes deep emotion wounds, and murders her infant son. The act is done for “liberty,” but we find the mother’s violence difficult to digest. Starting from a point of respect, we suggest that the “The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point” really concerns a lack of respect for toward life that not only flaws her judgments

Throughout the semester we have discussed a few captivity narratives such as: John Smith, Mary Rowlandson, and Cotton Mather. From a personal standpoint, Mary Rowlandson’s captivity narrative was one of the best selections we have read in class thus far. It is a prominent source of biblical encouragement to those of the Puritan religion and some other religions that put God above all human and nature. Throughout the short story, a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mary Rowlandson, it describes the eleven weeks, approximately around eighty two days, were Rowlandson was held captive. Rowlandson demonstrates how strong her faith is throughout the entire time she was gone away from her family, losing her daughter Sarah and the problems she and the other captives had to face during that amount of time. She keeps her faith through the Lord and he delivers her prays in the end, because she stayed faithful to him.

"I will make darkness light before them and crooked things straight. These things I will do unto them and not forsake them” Isaiah 42:16. God promises to be there for His people as long as one believes in Him. The Kumalo family lives in a poor colored city in South Africa where they are constantly surrounded by the brokenness of the world. Knowing God will not forsake them helps one with building a strong connection with him. It is through this faith that Stephen, a priest, and devoted father, is able to find hope in the dark world he faces. Throughout the book Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton the flawed main character, Stephen Kumalo is able to go through the redemption cycle because of his relationship with God.