Mary Rowlandson: A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration

 

Questions for Reading and Discussion/ Approaches to Writing

(from the D.C. Heath Anthology Web Site)

1. How does the Narrative demonstrate Puritan theology and thinking at work?

2. In what ways does Rowlandson use her experience to reaffirm Puritan beliefs? How does she view herself and her fellow Christians? How does she see the Indians? What do her dehumanizing descriptions of the Indians accomplish?

3. Are there any instances where she seems to waver in her faith?

4. Why does Rowlandson distrust the "praying Indians"?

5. How does she use the Bible and varied scriptural allusions in her analysis of her captivity and restoration?

            6. Does her world view change at all during her eleven weeks of captivity? Why or why not?

Finally, consider this:  Many of us might consider Rowlandson's faith as naive or childish, particularly in light of what some of us might believe today. 

But ask yourself this:  How effective was her faith, naive or not,  in carrying her through this ordeal?  (To refresh your memory, please read again the bottom of p. 148 and the top of p.149 in The American Tradition in Literature, Volume I., Tenth Edition)

What is Rowlandson like after her captivity? Has she changed for better or worse?  

Were she alive today, would she need therapy and counseling as many of us might want, were we to have experienced what she experienced?

Or does her faith sustain her, justify her captivity, and make her feel even more whole?