Throughout Mary Rowlandson's narrative, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God, we receive a glimpse of what captivity among the Indians is like. Rowlandson's personal account is from a Puritan's point of view about Native Americans beginning in February of 1675. While reading this narrative, one must understand that the Native Americans were treated as bad if not worse than Mary Rowlandson herself. To get a true understanding, one must be aware of both sides of the story. Rowlandson's faith remained the primary basis of how she dealt with most problems and her attitude towards the Indians.
Even before her capture, Rowlandson saw "the causeless enmity of these Barbarians, against the English, and the malicious and revengefull spirit of these Heathen" (64). She perceived the Indians as "murtherous wretches", "merciless Heathen", and "Infidels" (68-69). As a woman of the Lord, she did not like all the battling, and the sight of murder was frightening. She dreaded the day they would invade her community. They came that "dreadfull hour," and all the stories she had heard from others about invasion became a reality (69). Before she was actually captured, she always said she would "rather be killed by them than be taken alive," but once she was captured she "chose rather to go along with those ravenous Beasts" (70). To go through such a trial as captivity would be such a witness to her Christian faith. Rowlandson did not think very highly of the Indians when they captured her, and to her when they were all gathered in one place, it portrayed "a lively resemblance of hell" (71). Before Rowlandson's captivity and throughout her first remove, the Indians are given the image as being animals. Even through these trying times, Rowlandson's faith remained strong, and she never lost hope. When she felt like she might not make it, "the Lord renewed my strength still, and carried me along" (73).
