Mary Rowlandson's "The Sovereignty and Goodness of God"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines Mary Rowlandson's narrative "The Sovereignty and Goodness of God" and explains how Rowlandson offers vivid accounts of Native lifestyles, with women and religious figures existing outside of, and in opposition to, English Puritan society. The paper discusses the social context of Rowlandson's life and the publication of "The Sovereignty and Goodness of God". Next, the paper explores Rowlandson's narrative in terms of the essentially inferior relationship between Christians and non-Christians in an effort to discern more about 17th century English Puritan society. The paper then looks at how "The Sovereignty and Goodness of God" is autobiographical in nature, describing the author's first-hand account of being in captivity, but not autobiographical in the traditional sense because it focuses exclusively on the three months she spent in Native captivity when she was about thirty-nine years old but not on her life before and after captivity.

From the Paper:

"The bullets that sliced through the Rowlandson Garrison in 1676 facilitated a tear in the division of two cultural realms, a transfer between civilizations that resulted in the induction of Mary White Rowlandson into the Native world. For 11 weeks the boundaries of Rowlandson's cultural identification were tested as she was forced to live and participate in the society of her captors. During this time, the essential nature of her identity and status in society changed; rather than being the mistress of her own respected household, Rowlandson found herself occupying the lowest rung of Native society. She was now a captive servant to her Native master and mistresses."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Axtell, James. The European and the Indian: Essays in the Ethohistory of Colonial North America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Breitwieser, Mitchell Robert. American Puritanism and the Defense of Mourning: Religion, Grief and Ethnology in Mary White Rolandson's Captivity Narrative.Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1990.
• Derounian-Stodola, Kathryn Zabelle. "Introduction."Women's Indian Captivity Narratives. New York: Penguin Books, 1998. pp. xi-xxviii.
• Derounian-Stodola, Kathryn Zabelle. Women's Indian Captivity Narratives. New York:Penguin Books, 1998.
• Rowlandson, Mary. The Sovereignty and Goodness of God. Eds. Neal Salisbury. Boston:Bedford Books, 1997. pp. 63-112.

More papers on Mary Rowlandson's "The Sovereignty and Goodness of God":

• Book Review # 121936 : "The Sovereignty and Goodness of God"
• Analytical Essay # 141120 : "Remembrance in the Works of Rowlandson and Poe"
• Comparison Essay # 121682 : "Conventions of Autobiography"

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