Review of Mary Rowlandson

Mary Rowlandson's writing was pretty intriguing.  It's amazing to think what she probably endured and went through, but still stayed faithful to God (or saw His faithfulness to her).  Of course, there is also the possibility that she has slightly fabricated her story as she did write it after it was over.  I will, however, choose to believe that her story is true.  Since I believe her story is true, I don't know what I would have done in her situation.  I'd like to think that I'd never have given up my hope in God, but I can't for sure say that I would have been able to be like Mary was.  The only way to know that for sure is to go through a similar situation.  The two biggest things that stuck out me about her story, though, were the only two things that I could remember when I tried to think back on it the next day in class.

The first thing is when she received the Bible from one of the Native Americans.  The fact that she was reading and fell into despair because she thought she was cursed, but then she kept on reading and saw that she would be blessed in the end and that God was with her is the first thing.  The reason this stuck out so much is because she didn't just stop reading when she felt like she was being told she was cursed.  Rather, she kept on reading to find the true meaning in what God was trying to tell here, and that is that He's always there, even when it seems like He's not.  Also, it reminded me as I was reading it that, as a Christian, you can't just read one passage in the Bible and jump straight to the conclusion that what you just read was what God wanted you to get out of your reading, but instead you need to keep on reading until you know for sure if what you thought He was saying to you is actually what He was saying.

The second thing that stuck out to me is how she kind of changes throughout her writing.  She goes from calling the Native Americans all sorts of mean and racist remarks to being practically sympathetic to them and kind to them in her writing.  At least, she does until the very end when she kind of just says that their purpose is to be evil in a way.  That just struck me because it shows that no matter what you may think about someone or something, your view could change if you would just get to know them a little more.