Compare And Contrast Mary Rowlandson And Mary Rowlandson

When Christopher Columbus set sail for his first voyage, I doubt that he any clue on the chain of events he would set off. Christopher intended to expand the Spanish colonization and to find riches to deliver to his King and Queen, not thinking about the blood that would be shed by both the Spaniards and the Natives. As soon as the Europeans set foot on the Natives land, it was obvious there was going to be trouble. It is obvious that these events van be viewed under two different perspectives. To the Europeans, they only wanted to expand their culture and for the Natives, they had to defend their land from the strange men who invaded it. Even though there are different perspectives on the situation, the way these groups saw each other is quite …show more content…
However, as Cabeza De Vaca wrote about the Native’s peacefulness, Mary Rowlandson wrote the opposite. Rowlandson was just a simple minister’s wife when she was taken captive and separated from her family, giving her unique perspective on the situation because she was just a simple colonist. “Thus these murderous wretches went on, burning and destroying before them.” Rowlandson got to see the Natives destroy her home and massacre many civilians, not caring if they killed the innocent. “…Indians gaping before us with their guns, spears, and hatchets to devour us.” Rowlandson sets up the image that the Natives were these horrendous monsters who were blood thirsty. The fact that a colonist who was not trained for war and such matters, saw them as such exposes the rocky relationship they have with each other. As outsiders, we can understand why the Natives acted in such a manner, but to Rowlandson, they acted that way because it was in their nature as savages. “Thus were we butchered by those merciless heathen, standing amazed with the blood running down to our heels.” The way Rowlandson described her view of the Natives destroys any peacefulness the Natives demonstrated in Cabeza De Vaca’s narrative. “Now away we must go with those barbarous creatures, with our bodies wounded and bleeding and our hearts no less than our bodies.” Rowlandson was captured in a different manner than Cabeza De Vaca, he came upon them whereas they destroyed her home. Due to this difference, it is no wonder why Rowlandson sees the Natives as ruthless. “Ten the set me upon a horse with my wounded child in my lap…like inhumane creatures, laughed, and rejoiced to see it…” Just when we see a bit of compassion coming from the Natives, they destroy it by laughing at her suffering. The Natives took everything way from Rowlandson, that no matter how kind they acted from time to time, she would always see them as monsters. It was