Mary Rowlandson captiviity narrative vs. Douglas slave narrative Research Paper

Mary Rowlandson captiviity narrative vs. Douglas slave narrative - Research Paper Example the most famous and moving of a number of narratives written by former slaves, in factual detail describes the events of his life as a slave and thereafter. Both works are considered influential in early American literature. Analyzing the two, one sees that what at first appears to be a connection bound by the notion of captivity, that connection is well superseded by the very different personal and overall goals of the writers. .. a single individual, usually a woman, [who] stands passively under the strokes of evil, awaiting rescue by the grace of God. The sufferer represents the whole, chastened body of Puritan society; and the temporary bondage of the captive to the Indian is dual paradigm-- of the bondage of the soul to the flesh and the temptations arising from original sin, and of the self-exile of the English Israel from England. In the Indians devilish clutches, the captive had to meet and reject the temptation of Indian marriage and/or the Indians "cannibal" Eucharist. To partake of the Indians love or of his equivalent of bread and wine was to debase, to un-English the very soul. The captives ultimate redemption by the grace of Christ and the efforts of the Puritan magistrates is likened to the regeneration of the soul in conversion. The ordeal is at once threatful of pain and evil and promising of ultimate salvation. Through the captives proxy, the promise of a similar salvation could be offere d to the faithful among the reading public, while the captives torments remained to harrow the hearts of those not yet awakened to their fallen nature. (Stokes 94) Narratives of slavery, such as that written by Frederick Douglass, recounted the personal experiences of ante-bellum African Americans who had escaped from slavery and found their way to safety in the North. Employing the tradition of the captivity narrative, narratives of slavery were similarly reliant on Biblical references and imagery. Differing in context, however, they were replete with