Mary Rowlandson

     As I read Mary Rowlandson's captivity narrative, I was fairly critical about her in two ways: 1. about how she spoke of her unwavering faith and 2. the racist comments she made about the Native Americans.  From the beginning she is quoting scripture and saying things like, "yet the Lord by His almighty power preserved a number of us from death," and "as He wounded me with one hand, so he healed me with the other."  She also refers to the Native Americans as "merciless heathens," "ravenous beasts," and the "barbarous enemy."  But my critique of her became more of a questioning of myself: 1. would I, in her circumstance, have trusted that the Lord was good? and 2. would I have refrained from racist comments or thoughts?  I'm not so sure on either of them.  I applaud her devotedness and trust that the Lord was at work even in the worst of circumstances, but at times it seemed a little too optimistic.  I'm not so sure that I would have been so confident--I want to say that I would have, but it's hard to say as I haven't actually been in those circumstances.  It's also hard to say that I wouldn't have said the same racist comments that she did in her writing.  If I had encountered people very different than myself and observed that their goal was to kill me and those like me, I might have thought of them as "ravenous beasts" or the "barbarous enemy."  Again, I want to say that I wouldn't but as I tried to put myself in her shoes, I questioned this.  But that is what I appreciate about literature.  Oftentimes when I hear or read about other people's actions it's easy to criticize and condemn them for the way they did things.  But literature allows me the opportunity to see things with someone else's eyes and ask hard questions of myself.  It also gives me the opportunity to learn from someone else's mistakes.