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Mary Rowlandson Captivity

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During the Colonial Period, life was quite different between Indians, Spaniards, and many other races. They both had very different views but mainly on certain subjects like religion and culture. In the book Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, she describes her mournful American life as a tragedy due to an Indian invasion and how her life went downhill quickly. It was definitely not a pleasant life she lived during this time; however, it taught Rowlandson to view her life differently during her captivity in which she looks at things in a whole new perspective; a positive one. Also, in the book Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition, Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca describes his Spanish expedition that didn’t go as planned. …show more content…
She was taken into captivity by the Indians who had left her homeless and without her family, friends, and loved ones. The Indians were her enemy and she had no reason to like them or be on their side. Rowlandson, her family, and people all around didn’t stand a chance against the Indians considering that they “got upon the roof of the barn, and had advantage to shoot down upon them over their fortification” (Rowlandson 7). They “burned down several houses” and took over like it was nothing (7). As mentioned earlier, not only did they take away her home they also took away her family and she describes that “my children gone, my relations and friends gone, our house and home and all our comforts- within door and without- all was gone (except my life)” (10). Rowlandson expresses hopelessness in this excerpt by explaining that she now has nothing because everything important to her has been taken away and she thinks that her life is going to go next. While taken captive, she explains to us that she now “must go with these barbarous creatures, with our bodies wounded and bleeding, and our hearts no less than our bodies” (10). Rowlandson is always referring to the Indians in such a negative connation. But, even when the Indians were abusing here she still remains to “lift her heart to God, hoping the redemption was not far off; and …show more content…
He was the first to cross North America from the Gulf Coast of Florida and down to Mexico. His objective was to “bring Your Majesty a report of what I was able to see and learn during the nine years when I wandered, lost and naked, through many and strange lands, regarding the situation of the lands and the provinces thereof” (3). Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and the other Spaniards, used their knowledge and faith in God to make it through their expedition. Even though the journey didn’t go as plan, they were still credited for their achievements and were acknowledged. With that being said, he mentions that “And now that I have given an report of the ships, it will be good for me to say who those men are whom Our Lord was pleased to rescue from these hardships and where they are from” (90). Lastly, “all are equal in their desire and willingness to serve” meaning that the men on the expedition are all given the same credit when having the same strong feeling and readiness to perform. The main goal of Mary Rowlandson was to return back home and escape the captivity of the Indians. She sewed for the Indians and tried everything in her power to get the chance to be free again. Rowlandson realizes that life is short and that she is more than lucky to be alive unlike her family and friends who were unlucky and did actually die. After Indian

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