3. Quotation #1:“Thus were the butchered by those merciless Heathen, standing amazed, with the blood running down to our heels.”Page 468 Heath Anthology Theme and Significance:-A common theme among literature of this time period is one that portrays the Native American people as savages or uncivilized people. This quote uses graphic imagery to describe the horrible scene that the people faced in Rowlandson’s town (Lancaster). Her words not only portray the Natives in a uncivilized but also as cruel butchers of men.
4. Quotation #2:“But now, the next morning, I must turn my back upon the Town, and travel with them into the vast and desolate Wilderness, I knew not whither.”Page 470, Heath AnthologyTheme and Significance:-The colonist established towns from the time they began arriving in the New World. For Rowlandson to be taken away from her town and comfort zone was highly upsetting. To her and the other settlers the town represented order and civilization and the wilderness represented hell and damnation. Being forced into the wilderness with the Natives must have been terrifying for Rowlandson.
5. Quotation #3: “When we were come, oh the number of Pagans (now merciless enemies) that there came about me, that I may say as David, Psal, 27.13 I had fainted, unless I had believed, etc.” Page 471, Heath Anthology Theme and Significance: -As many Puritans, Rowlandson believed in God’s sovereignty, the idea of predestination and they commonly used typology or biblical references in their written work. In this quote Rowlandson inserts a biblical reference to describe her situation as so desolate that had she not believed in God she would have fainted. This parallels to many situations in her narrative where she makes it plain that she could not have survived without thinking that her situation was merely a part of God’s bigger plan.
