Colonial American Travel Narratives essays

Colonial American Travel Narratives essays In Wendy Martins Colonial American Travel Narratives, she develops an underlining theme of social stratification. The narratives in this series of writings develop a clear class system. Each Author whether Mary Rowlandson, Sarah Kemble Knight, William Byrd, Alexander Hamilton all have different styles of narratives and different developments in social classes. In A True History of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, Mary Rowlandson describes her captivity and her release. Mary Rowlandson was a devoted Christian and a mother of three. Rowlandsons story starts with her tragic abduction, in which the Narragansett Indians raid her village. In the raid, Rowlandson herself was wounded, while her sister was shot, and her daughter Sarah, would died due to wounds inflicted during the abduction. Twelve of her close family and friends within the house were killed by either gunshot or the Narragansett Indians knockd on the head (11). Rowlandson would be separated from the rest of her family. These Barbarous Creatures (12) as Rowlandson would describe them, took her from Indian village to Indian village. Rowlandson would then become a type of slave being sold to a high chief Quannopin. The first week of living in amongst the Narragansett Indians Mary hardly ate anything, the second week her stomach grew faint. Rowlandson w ould refer to the Indian food as filthy trash, (19) yet in the next sentence she states, They were pleasant and savory.(19) Rowlandson would learn to adapt with the Indian. Mary used her sowing skills to get food and tried not to make the Indians mad enough to kill her. After eleven weeks and five days of captivity the Narragansett Indians will then sell Mary Rowlandson to her husband for twenty pounds. Rowlandsons main strength in this narrative comes from the bible she receives. Rowlandson uses scriptures to reflect her ...