Rowlandson
cultivates a very understandable us versus them mentality against those who
hold her prisoner. What shines through in all of this is Rowlandson’s resolve
in the face of her dire situation. Throughout the experience, she maintains her
faith in God or the belief that he will deliver her from her captivity back
into the comfort and familiarity of her old life.
As
Rowlandson writes in The Thirteenth Remove: “But the Lord upheld my Spirit, under this discouragement; and
I considered their horrible addictedness to lying, and that there is not one of
them that makes the least conscience of speaking of truth.” In Rowlandson’s
mind, this whole ordeal is a holy quest that she must endure. The Amerindian
people are foreign to her in everyway, and in the context of survival, to be
foreign is a signifier of opposition. They lie, they kill, and they force good
English folk into servitude. Rowlandson considers herself the hero in this
situation, surviving by the grace of God in the face of insurmountable
adversity. While anything that occurs ultimately relates back to the power of
God, Rowlandson is not beyond seeing the faults in herself. Thinking back on
the events during and since her capture, Rowlandson records: “Now had I time to
examine all my ways: my conscience did not accuse me of unrighteousness toward
one or other; yet I saw how in my walk with God, I had been a careless
creature.” Any blame for what is happening to her is the fault of Rowlandson,
at least in her own view. God has a grand plan she is not privy too and any
punishment that befalls Rowlandson is part of that unfolding plan.
As for whether Rowlandson sees herself as saved, a reader can
turn to the final, Twentieth Remove: “Affliction I wanted, and affliction I
had, full measure (I thought), pressed down and running over.” Rowlandson looks
back and acknowledges that God put her through an ordeal. Instead of resentment
or self-pity, she sees her journey as one of self-improvement. Thinking back on
how her captivity has changed her, Rowlandson writes: “I have learned to look
beyond present and smaller troubles, and to be quieted under them.”
Rowlandson’s ordeal has opened her mind to a wider world, one of both cruelty
and kindness. In the end, she has become a stronger person for what she
endured.
While I agree completely that Rowlandson believes she was saved, I find it interesting and somewhat insightful that you called this a "holy quest." It is reminiscent of Winthrop's sermon where he compares the Puritan people to the Israelites in the desert. Just as they had to go enormous hardships, so did Mary, as well as the other Puritan captives, have to endure at times agonizing situations. The connection between the two peoples is also made later in your commentary on God's unfolding plan that could entail punishment and distress. The Israelites were tested and punished, just how Mary is in her captivity. As Winthrop noted in his sermon, "the Israelites were put to a difference between the brethren of such as were strangers," and this is something Mary has experienced first hand with the Amerindians. Through her trials she is forced to live among the strangers, but keep her faith. I also appreciate that you label her enduring faith as "resolve," because it aptly describes her determination to not let this affect her belief in her salvation.
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ReplyDeleteMr. O'Brien,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the immediate mention of Mary Rowlandson's "us versus them" mentality (the element of alterity). It is appropriate to mention this at the start of your blog because it really sets the tone for the entirety of Rowlandson's stint as a prisoner of war. Her opposition to her captors and how aware she seems to be of herself ("Rowlandson is not beyond seeing the faults in herself.") are key factors in her attitude, as is illustrated by the fact that she calls even herself a "sinner." Miss Hutchinson was correct in noting the parallelism between the journey of the Israelites and Mary and her fellow prisoners; I failed to note this similarity myself. Noting this similarity, I now agree that Mary Rowlandson does believe herself to be saved, though I had a different point of view previously. These journeys make me think of Psalm 137, which was condensed/edited to make the song of "Rivers of Babylon." To read, I've pasted the link below.
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+137&version=NIV