Mary Rowlandson’s story is an autobiography describing her first-hand experience as a prisoner of the Native Americans in 1676 during King Philip’s War. The critical point she centered around in her story was an unconditional submission to the Christian faith as it was challenging to remain a true religious woman and survive during that fierce war. The Christian religious perspectives were major arguments Rowlandson highlighted in her piece.
In the story, Rowlandson described her sister, who was killed in the raid. Rowlandson (2019) pointed out, “in her younger years, she lay under much trouble upon spiritual accounts, till it pleased God to make that precious scripture taking hold of her heart” (p.143). In this passage, the writer resorted to a metaphor describing both her sister and Rowlandson’s understanding of their own experience and spiritual enlightenment during their three-month captivity. Her sister was the representation of a Christian woman in Puritan society. The writer considered her sister’s passing away to be an interpretation of God’s reaction to her plea. Rowlandson’s ravishment into the harsh realities and the wilderness was correlated to God’s will. After her sister’s death, the writer was reckless in her worshipping, as she asked for God’s guidelines to get her back on the right life path.
Mary Rowlandson’s story was dedicated to personal hardships and sufferings that were a form of God’s interpretation as an attempt to make a person humble and diminished in their expressions. The deep meaning behind Rowlandson’s line was to present the importance of responsibility takings as a person under God’s surveillance had to treat everything as a preordained element of their lives. She treated everything she witnessed and passed through as a form of Christian pilgrimage.
Reference
Rowlandson, M. (2019). A narrative of the captivity and restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. New York History Review.