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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page essay/research paper that compares Mary Rowlandson’s seventeenth century captivity narrative to the 1990 film Dances with Wolves. On February 20, 1676, a band of Narragansett Indians attacked the home of Mary Rowlandson as part of an uprising known as King Philip’s War (Wesley 42). Rowlandson and three of her children were taken captive. Rowlandson’s account of her captivity, which lasted eleven weeks, is extremely revealing as to the mindset of Puritan settlers during this period. This narrative is vastly different from the story portrayed in the 1990 film “Dances With Wolves” (directed by Kevin Costner for Orion Pictures). Nevertheless, there are similarities between the two works in that both Rowlandson and the film’s protagonist, John J. Dunbar, both undergo a transformation, that is, a change in their worldview, due to their experiences among Native Americans. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khrowdan.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
Rowlandson and three of her children were taken captive. Rowlandsons account of her captivity, which lasted eleven weeks, is extremely revealing as to the mindset of Puritan settlers during this
period. This narrative is vastly different from the story portrayed in the 1990 film "Dances With Wolves" (directed by Kevin Costner for Orion Pictures). Nevertheless, there are similarities between the
two works in that both Rowlandson and the films protagonist, John J. Dunbar, both undergo a transformation, that is, a change in their worldview, due to their experiences among Native
Americans. At the beginning of her story, Rowlandson refers to her captors as "hell-hounds," who are characterized by their "savageness" and "brutishness" (Rowlandson 35-36). It is clear that Rowlandson
associates the Indians more with animals than humanity. This perspective combines with her religious belief that all action on earth is in accordance with Gods will in a manner that
substantiates her perception of the Indians as inhuman. For example, when her captors show her some kindness, Rowlandson interprets this in terms of a blessing coming directly from God,
with the Native American as the unknowing intermediary of Gods bounty. When a Narragansett woman brings Rowlandsons son to visit her or when a man offers Rowlandson a Bible to
read, she immediately attributes these events to the action of Providence. When her captors, which is a band of American Natives made up mostly of women and children, escape from
the pursuing colonial army, Rowlandson ponders the "strange providence of God in preserving the heathen" (Rowlandson 44). She concludes that this occurred so that the Indians would be able to
further test the faith of the Puritans. In time, Rowlandson achieves a position within the band due to her skill as a seamstress, which allows her to barter her
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