Mary Rowlandson

Reading Questions

Dr. Roggenkamp

Mary Rowlandson

1.      This narrative, a captivity narrative, draws upon several different genres of writing, including “storytelling,” history, psychology, and religion.

a.       How is this narrative a good story?  In other words, what makes it “literary?”

b.      How is this narrative historical in nature?  How does fact mix with fiction here?

c.       How does this narrative reveal something psychological?  Look in particular at the ending of the narrative—what can you tell about Rowlandson’s psychological state?  What factors may be affecting Rowlandson’s interpretation of her experience?

d.      How does Rowlandson make her personal story into a giant religious metaphor?  How does Rowlandson use her experience to reaffirm Puritan beliefs?  How does the narrative demonstrate Puritan theology and thinking at work in a single person’s life?  How does she view herself and her fellow Christians?  How does she see the Indians, in terms of religion?

2.      What is Rowlandson’s attitude toward Native Americans?  Do the actions of the Native Americans ever seem to contradict what Rowlandson is telling us?

3.      Think about tension in this narrative.  Can you detect any kind of tension between what Rowlandson is saying—perhaps subconsciously—and what she knows she’s “supposed” to say and think, according to her Puritan world view?  Are there any places where Rowlandson seems to waver—again, perhaps subconsciously—in her faith?