Narrative Of The Captivity And Restoration Of Mrs Mary Rowlandson - Couverture souple

Rowlandson, Mary

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0939218208 ISBN 13 : 9780939218202

Editeur : Chapman Billies, 2004

Synopsis

Book by Rowlandson Mrs Mary Rowlandson Mary

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

On February 10, 1676, the settlement of Lancaster, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was attacked by Native Americans. The Native Americans burn houses down and open fire on the British settlers, killing several of them and wounding more. They take many of the survivors captive, including Mary Rowlandson and her three children. Mary and her youngest child are among the injured, while others of her family, including her brother-in-law, are killed. The Native Americans lead the captured survivors from their settlement into the wilderness. Rowlandson and her youngest, Sarah are allowed to stay together, but her two oldest, Joseph and Mary, are separated. After spending a night in a nearby town, the Native Americans and the captives head further into the wilderness. Being injured, the journey is difficult for Rowlandson and her daughter. They reach an Indian settlement called Wenimesset, where Rowlandson meets another captive named Robert Pepper who tries to help the new captives. After staying in Wenimesset for about a week, Rowlandson’s injured daughter, Sarah, dies. Rowlandson is sold to another Indian who is related to King Philip by marriage. They bury Rowlandson’s dead daughter, and she is allowed to visit her oldest daughter Mary who is also being held in Wenimesset, and her oldest son who is allowed to visit from a nearby Indian settlement. The Indians give Rowlandson a Bible in which she finds a great deal of hope. After attacking another town the Native Americans decide to head north and Rowlandson is again separated from her family and the “friends” she has made. The Native Americans Rowlandson is with begin to move quickly through the forest, and she suspects the British army must be close by. They come to the Baquaug River and cross it with the British soldiers close behind. However the British are not able to cross and Rowlandson and the Indians continue northwest. They reach the Connecticut River and plan on meeting King Philip, but English scouts are present so they must scatter and hide. Rowlandson and the Indians soon cross the river and meet King Philip. At this settlement, Rowlandson sews for the Indians in return for food. Rowlandson wants to go to Albany in hopes of being sold for gunpowder, but the Indians take her northward and cross the river again. Rowlandson starts hoping she will be returned home, but now the Indians turn south continuing along the Connecticut River instead of heading east towards civilization. The Indians continue their attacks, and Thomas Read joins Rowlandson’s group. Read tells Rowlandson that her husband is alive and well, which gives her hope and comfort. Rowlandson and her group finally start to move east. They cross the Baquaug River again where they meet messengers telling Rowlandson she must go to Wachuset where the Indians will discuss her possibility of returning to freedom. Rowlandson eagerly heads toward Wachuset, but the journey wears her down and she is disheartened by the sight of an injured colonist from a previous Indian attack. She reaches Wachuset and speaks to King Philip, who guarantees she will be free in two weeks. The council asks how much her husband would pay for her ransom and they send a letter to Boston saying she will be freed for twenty pounds. After many more Indian attacks and victories, Rowlandson is allowed to travel back to Lancaster, then to Concord and finally to Boston. She is reunited with her husband after 11 long weeks. They stay with a friend in Concord for a while until Rowlandson’s sister, son, and daughter are returned. Now back together, the family builds a house in Boston where they live until 1677.

Présentation de l'éditeur :

"THE FIRST AMERICAN BESTSELLER” Mary Rowlandson, a colonial American captured during King Philip's War and held for 11 weeks before being ransomed, wrote of her ordeal in The Sovereignty and Goodness of God: Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. Rowlandson and her children were forced to accompany the Indians as they travelled through the wilderness to carry out other raids on colonists and fight the English militia. The severe conditions are recounted in visceral detail. Following her ransom, Rowlandson is thought to have composed a private narrative of her captivity recounting the stages of her odyssey in twenty distinct "Removes" or journeys. The text of her narrative is replete with verses and references describing conditions similar to her own, and have fueled much speculation regarding the influence of Increase Mather in the production of the text. The tensions between colonists and Native Americans, particularly in the aftermath of King Philip's War, were a source of anxiety in the colonies. While in fear of losing connection to their own culture and society, Puritan colonists were curious about the experience of one who had lived among Native people as a captive and returned to colonial society. The publication of Rowlandson's captivity narrative earned the colonist an important place in the history of American literature. A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson is among the most frequently cited examples of a captivity narrative and is often viewed as an archetypal model. This important American literary genre functioned as a source of information for eighteenth and nineteenth-century writers James Fenimore Cooper, Ann Bleecker, John Williams, and James Seaver, in their portrayals of colonial history. Because of Rowlandson's encounter with her Indian captors, her narrative is also interesting for its treatment of intercultural contact. Finally, in its use of autobiography, Biblical typology, and similarity to the "Jeremiad", "A narrative of the Captivity" offers valuable insight into the Puritan mind. This text is considered a seminal American work in the literary genre of captivity narratives. It went through four printings in 1682 and garnered readership both in the New England colonies and in England, leading it to be considered by some the first American "bestseller.” [Source: Wikipedia]

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Chapman Billies
• Date d'édition: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0939218208
• ISBN 13: 9780939218202
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 94