Mary Rowlandson Research Paper

Words: 2238
Pages: 9

Life is a struggle. This is nothing new, of course, but it is something to ponder nevertheless. Earth is a place that, at one point in time, was considered to be the centre of the Universe, making it somewhat ironic how the people of Earth are forced to experience various dangers and dilemmas throughout their lives, dilemmas that have the capacity to range from suffering through times of poverty to making the best of a hostile situation that it appears one has little or no hope of escaping. One example of a person who has experience with the latter is Mary Rowlandson, nee White, a former Englishwoman and the wife of Reverend Joseph Rowlandson. The two adults and their children are living a relatively normal life when Narragansett Indians attack their home of Lancaster, a city located on the Massachusetts frontier, “on the tenth of February 1675” (Rowlandson, 137). …show more content…
She tries to protect her precious daughter from getting injured by the enemy, but she fails, despite using her own body as a shield, and the daughter suffers from her wound, which causes her to gain a dreadful fever, and dies nine days later. How pitiful, how sad it is that such a young child dies as the tender age of six. Unfortunately, looking back, the death of Sarah is an inevitable event that was going to involve the attack of the Indians on Lancaster, Massachusetts, regardless of whatever Rowlandson does to intervene. Had Rowlandson not tried to run from the burning house, both she and Sarah might have died. Instead, she ran in the direction of the Indians, but this action does not keep Sarah from losing her life. It truly does not matter what Rowlandson chose to do. The end of her daughter’s life was already set in stone, meaning her effort to save her daughter is futile, and the suffering she experiences as a result of her death is