Narratives are written by those who experience certain situations that were either intricate, picturesque, or even awakening to them. American history has had many eras, which have affected individuals in certain ways. From slave narratives to war narratives, they have helped historians write out history through their personal experiences. Many of these create controversies between religions, cultures and even countries because they express what the author had to endure or go through. Maybe it was an action performed by a religion that didn't agree with another person's belief, or the perception of one countries mistreatment to another. Through America's literature one can attain an accurate perspective of the lives and beliefs of society in a given era. Individuals such as Benjamin Franklin and Mary Rowlandson describe their eras through their narratives, thus creating a bridge between the past and today allowing people to connect to their religious pasts and humanistic beliefs.
             Puritanism is considered one of America's first religions. It was created by the aggravated Anglicans in England who migrated to the New World thus beginning the new religion of Puritanism in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Mary Rowlandson's narrative, A Narrative of the Captivity, demonstrates how the Indians treated their captives. In this case, Mary is an English captive whose religion is Puritanism. She finds herself in the hands of God because she has no other alternative than to believe that she will be rescued, or unchained, or that maybe one day she will be able to speak to her children. At the beginning of her narrative, she loses a daughter and is forced to leave her behind. The pain was awful for her, but she kept going. "The lord helped me still to go on, "(Rowlandson, 41) she said believing that it was God's actions that were allowing her to live. Although Rowlandson is devastated about the loss of her child she refers to God, thus d...