comparison paper Sarah Kemple Knight vs. Mary Rowlandson
Was Mrs. Mary Rowlandson at all that different from Mrs. Sarah Kemble Knight? Mrs. Rowlandson, the one who was born in 1636, lived only thirty years from Mrs. Knight, the one who saw the light of day in 1666. To repeat, their journals varied in time of only a few decades, but they were quite different in many ways. Saying that these journals, the ones written by Mrs. Rowlandson and Mrs. Knight, were different does not necessarily mean that they were not alike in some ways. Their journals similarly showed the use of subjective writing and allusions, however, they were different in tone, ability to surmount difficulties and sufferings, attitude towards food, and religiousness. So although being considerably similar in some characteristics, Mrs. Mary Rowlandson and Mrs. Sarah Kemble Knight generally wrote differently from each other. Certainly Mrs. Rowlandson's writing was different from Mrs. Knight's, and here are some characteristics that show this difference. It is true that Mrs. Rowlandson was faced with some serious circumstances, such as being captured by Indians and losing her child. Consequently, she expressed her literary mind quite seriously, in other words, her tone showed no humor what
so ever. Throughout her journal, Mrs. Rowlandson is constantly threatened and terrified, therefore this is a reason for her serious tone. An example of a sufficient reason for her serious tone occurs when an Indian warns her to have her child quit moaning, moaning brought because of lack of food, moaning that is only to cease when this child is dead, "Your master will quickly knock your child on the head" (24). This threatening along with others is a reason for her serious tone. Mrs. Rowlandson was not quite successful in surmounting difficulties or sufferings. For instance, after crossing the river to meet Philip's crew she explains how her spirits fall and thinks that these men will kill her: When I came ashore, they gathered all around me, I sitting alone in the midst. I observed they asked one another questions, and laughed, and rejoiced over their gains and victories,Then my heart began to fail; and I fell aweeping, which was the first time to my remembrance that I wept before them. Although I had met with so much affliction, and my heart was ready to break, yet could I not shed one tear in their sight; but rather had been all this while in a maze and like one astonished. This shows that, when faced with a difficulty, Mrs. Rowlandson cannot surmount them, but instead cries and feels sorry for herself. Mrs. Rowlandson's attitude towards food, however, does change, which in turn shows somewhat of a strengthening or maturing. For example, Mrs. Rowlandson states how her standpoint regarding food has changed, "I have sometimes seen bear baked very handsomely among the English, and some like it, but the thought that it was bear made me tremble. But now that was savory to me that one would think was enough to turn the stomach of a brute creature" (29). This shows that her attitude towards food is somewhat less picky and that her tastes have changed to a much broader list. Mrs. Rowlandson's religiousness, on the contrary, does not either change or diminish, but it is forever strong through everything. A primary way of distinguishing Mrs. Rowlandson's religiousness, one that is strong and eve
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Approximate Word count = 1426
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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