The Faith of Mary Rowlandson Essay

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The Faith of Mary Rowlandson In her writing titled “A Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson”, Mary lies out for the reader her experience of being held in captivity by Indians during the King Philip’s War. Perhaps one of the most significant aspects of this writing is the glimpse that the reader gets into Rowlandson’s faith and religion. Faith was a major aspect of life in the Colonial Period. It was of widespread belief that God was to be feared, and that he was the only way to redemption (Kizer). Mary Rowlandson was no different, but the extreme conditions of her captivity caused her faith to occasionally waiver. Most of the time throughout her journey in captivity, she depended on God, and the …show more content…
Now she has been in captivity for quite some time, and she is finding it difficult to withstand the constant blows. She seems to be getting less comfort from her bible, and it appears as if it’s becoming more difficult for her to keep her faith in God. In a sense, she even seems to lash out at God when she thinks about how easy it is for God to punish his sinners. She conveys to the reader that “So easie a thing it is with God to dry up the Streames of Scripture-comfort from us” (Rowlandson 454). Still it’s not long before she comes to a passage in the bible (which she believes God brought her to) that boosts her faith enough to keep her going (Rowlandson 445). Despite Mary’s ability hold on to her faith throughout the moments of wavering, there is a theme throughout the writing that is subtle and quite, yet steady. She wishes to die. Not all of the time, but the thought crosses her mind on more than one occasion. She credits God with keeping her from succumbing to her wishes to “use wicked and violent means to end my own miserable life” she notes in her writings of the second remove (Rowlandson 448). Throughout the rest of her narrative, she makes several mention of being better off dead than moving on, and at one point she touches on the idea starving to death. One might argue that this does not demonstrate her faith wavering because she resolves these wishes through God and the bible, yet it could be said that Thánatos, by
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