Comparing And Contrasting Puritan Writings On Native Americans
The era of Puritanism was primarily based around the late sixteenth century, coinciding with the movement of early European colonizers seeking endemic American land. Mary Rowlandson and Roger Williams were both devout Puritans who documented vastly contrasting encounters and perspectives with Native Americans in the literary pieces “Narrative of the Captivity of the Captivity and Restoration of Mary Rowlandson” and A Key into the Language of America. Rowlandson and Williams’s experiences not only aided in the overall divide of stance towards the Indians but also shed light on various cultural aspects of both the Europeans and the natives. Both authors had a significant part in understanding the different effects the immigration of Europeans brought to early America. Mary Rowlandson and Roger Williams travel to new America resulted in extremely contradicting circumstances with Indians, in turn revealing reasons why each author decided to publicize their story. Roger Williams, famous religious dissenter and author of A Key into the Language of America, recorded his enlightening experience with the natives after fleeing from his hometown in Massachusetts and establishing his own colony in Rhode Island. There, he received the courteous treatment from the natives, becoming more interested in their culture.
For example, Williams states “God was pleased to give me a painful Patient spirit to lodge with them, in their filthy smoke holes. ” This explains how he deemed the natives worthy of respect, therefore, reciprocating the courteous character. In turn, this also opposed the character traits shown in Rowlandson’s experience, displaying that there is good and evil in both races. In addition, Williams says, “for this end was I born, and for this end came I into the world that I might bear witness for the truth. ” This explains Williams’s gratefulness to have witnessed the graciousness and kindness of the Indians, which is something that the majority of other Americans do not usually wish to take part in. In contrast to Williams’s experiences, Mary Rowlandson, author of famous diary “Narrative of the Captivity of the Captivity and Restoration of Mary Rowlandson”, encountered a more barbaric circumstance, for she was kidnapped and held hostage for months.
For example, Rowlandson provides a violent description of an element of her story when stating, “There were twelve killed, some shot, some stabb’d with their Spears, some knock’d down with their Hatchets. ” This depicts an apparent opposition from Williams’s experience, for Rowlandson felt first hand the wrath shown by the Indians. Furthermore, Rowlandson continues to detail the event by stating, “it is a solemn sight to see so many Christians lying in their Blood, some here, and some there, like a company of Sheep torn by wolves. ” In this shocking mental image, she allows the reader to compare the Indians to true beasts, demeaning their overall passage to any human qualities. This also portrays the Native Americans in a negative light, comparing their actions directly to those of white colonizers who treated the Indian race harshly. Williams and Rowlandson had complete opposite interactions with the Native Americans, shedding light on the reasoning behind the stance of each author, as Not only did Rowlandson and Williams have antipodal confrontations with the Native Americans, but their perspectives in regards to the race derived from those occurrences were opposite as well.
Roger Williams’s main focus throughout his meetings with the Indians was to bring forth his Puritan roots and share kindness through the gospel, which was unpopular for other whites to do during that time. For instance, Williams states, “while most of his contemporaries held the Indians to be the devil's children, enemies of God to be destroyed, he labored valiantly on their behalf. ” This example shows how he provides an uncomplicated outlook towards the Indians, for he claims that the only thing the natives lack is the opportunity to be saved. In addition to his religious perspective, Williams also believed solely in equal rights for all races. For example, Williams says “when the bloody wars came, which he strove so hard to prevent, he besought mercy for the Indian prisoners, that they might in due time, through negotiations with the chiefs, be set free rather than suffer death or be sold into slavery, for he held high hopes of saving the souls of some. ” This quote portrays Williams’s beliefs that the natives deserve to be accepted spiritually by all others instead of forced into slavery or killed, which was an unpopular view for a white American to have in that era. In contrast, Mary Rowlandson had a more negative perception of the natives, for she described them as “merciless enemies” and “barbarous creatures,” contributing to her initial hatred of the race.
To further explain her animosity towards the Indians, she described them as “inhuman” and “merciless” when she fell from a horse due a severe wound and they laughed at her. This examples gives an inside look to Rowlandson’s horrifying, animalistic view of the Native Americans, which is a clear contrast to Williams’s gracious opinion of them. Both writers’ opinion differed greatly depending on their truths derived from the treatment they received. Authors Mary Rowlandson’s and Roger Williams’s differing outlooks and experiences with the Indians show the positive and negative treatment of both races. Each experience not only shows a definite contrast between the behaviorisms of each race, but also shows the connection between the enemies, for Rowlandson’s encounter aligns closely with the majority of colonizers’ treatment of Native Americans. The authors’ recollections of their stories also contribute to the split between Americans and Native Americans due their conflicting perceptions of each race. Rowlandson’s traumatic experience resulted in contempt towards the Indians, while Williams’s compassionate attitude originated from the natives’ caring acceptance. Throughout both stories, internal aspects of Native American and American culture set a guide for a better understanding to the relationship between both races.
