At the core of most literary works lies the issue of conflict, which can be presented as either internal or external struggles. The works of Mary Rowlandson, Jonathan Edwards, and William Bradford, while unique in specific subject matter, all address the issue of religious conflict in one form or another. Rowlandson internally struggles with feeling as if she wasn’t always as devout as she should be and with the concept of religious suffering. Edwards gives a detailed account of his personal path with God and the inward struggles he faces at certain moments throughout his life. Bradford addresses both the external struggles that occur in England, Holland, and later with Thomas Morton, and the internal religious struggles his people experienced.
…show more content…
Bradford begins his literary work Of Plymouth Plantation by describing the religious persecution the Separatists endured at the hands of the Church of England; they were hunted, imprisoned, and watched. In order to attain the freedom of practicing their own religion, the Separatists first flee to Holland, but Bradford explains that the people of Holland contribute to another external struggle by setting evil and dangerous examples that some of the Separatist youth start to follow. In hopes of escaping more religious conflict, the Separatists flee to America; it is at this point that Bradford addresses the discord between Thomas Morton and himself. To him, Morton’s festivities (May-pole dancing and excessive drinking) and his association with the Church of England represents the sort of religious and social philosophies that he had attempted to escape by coming to the New World. His writing about Morton serves the purpose to try and purge the colonies of what he deems a corruptive force. In addition to addressing the external conflicts the Separatists have faced along their journey, Bradford also describes the inner religious struggles they experience when wickedness and notorious sins, like drunkenness and sodomy, break out among them. He reasons that because we inherently have corrupt natures, only God’s grace can subdue our wicked
Bradford begins his literary work Of Plymouth Plantation by describing the religious persecution the Separatists endured at the hands of the Church of England; they were hunted, imprisoned, and watched. In order to attain the freedom of practicing their own religion, the Separatists first flee to Holland, but Bradford explains that the people of Holland contribute to another external struggle by setting evil and dangerous examples that some of the Separatist youth start to follow. In hopes of escaping more religious conflict, the Separatists flee to America; it is at this point that Bradford addresses the discord between Thomas Morton and himself. To him, Morton’s festivities (May-pole dancing and excessive drinking) and his association with the Church of England represents the sort of religious and social philosophies that he had attempted to escape by coming to the New World. His writing about Morton serves the purpose to try and purge the colonies of what he deems a corruptive force. In addition to addressing the external conflicts the Separatists have faced along their journey, Bradford also describes the inner religious struggles they experience when wickedness and notorious sins, like drunkenness and sodomy, break out among them. He reasons that because we inherently have corrupt natures, only God’s grace can subdue our wicked