Dolefulest Day Mary Rowlandson Summary

Following the “dolefulest day” that her eyes ever saw, Mary Rowlandson was beset with what she interpreted as trials from the Lord. She speaks heavily about the starvation she faced and an uncivilized lifestyle she had never known after she and her town of Lancaster, “were butchered by those merciless heathen.” From carrying the same piece of moldy cake in her pocket to snack on for weeks, to eating foods she never thought she would find appetizing, like horse feet, unborn fawn, and bear meat, it is a wonder she did not die of malnutrition. Except that these actions, while savage and unholy in her own familiar lifestyle, were routine to those whom she thought of as barbarian’s survival, and living among them, therefore her own. “I can but stand in admiration to see the wonderful power of God in providing for such a vast number of our enemies in the wilderness,” Rowlandson states as she ponders how the Native Americans prevail despite continual shortages of food. “Many times they would eat that, that a hog or dog would hardly touch; yet by that God strengthened them to be a scourge on His people.” Aside from her basic needs of food and even being unsure on many occasions to have a wigwam for …show more content…
“O the wonderful power of God that I have seen, and the experience that I have had.” Her unshakeable faith in God to get her through the desperate ordeal alive makes her all the more faithful and confirms to her His power and mercy. In returning to the presence and lifestyle of her own people she appreciates evermore the “tender-hearted and compassionate Christians.” She portrays the misfortune and her journey back to civilization as she knows it as a trial from God, quoting Hebrews 12:6, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every Son whom he