Colonialism in Two Narratives
Capture and life with the Indians changed Mary Rowlandson. She wouldnever again take anything for granted, and she became much more spiritualafter her ordeal with the Indians. Her capture was a frightening nightmarethat ended with the reuniting of her family, but she nearly starved todeath before she returned, and she was treated little better than an animalmost of the time. Her story is a story of courage and devotion to God, andit illustrates the underlying strength that lives in all of us. Rowlandsondiscovered many things during her captivity - that she wanted to live, thatshe dearly loved her family, and that she was a survivor. She also saw theIndians as nothing but savages, even though they spared her life. Shewrote, "I was with the enemy eleven weeks and five days, and not one weekpassed without the fury of the enemy, and some desolation by fire and swordupon one place or other" (Rowlandson). Her captivity resulted from thecolonization of native lands, resulting in the revolution of the nativetribes, who resented the white man and their blind disregard for what theIndians considered their own. It is difficult to blame th
She writes, "But few thereare who have paused to question whether real life or long-lasting deathlies beneath this semblance of civilization" ((Zitkala-Sa and Fisher 99),and the reader cannot help but be moved. She becomes a writer whoperpetuates the lore of her people, but she is educated in white man'sschools, and lives the life of a white woman in most areas. She suffersequally because she is removed from her family, just as Rowlandson is, butin the name of "progress. Rowlandson is eventually returned to her family, and is even moreconvinced of the Indians' savagery and the righteousness of the colonialcause. Both captivity andcolonialism are at work in these narratives, and they show how the samethoughts can be so different when perceived by people on both sides of theargument. But the paleface has stolen our lands anddriven us hither. While Rowlandson's way of life continues after she returns from theIndians, she has lost family, but ultimately returns to what she knewbefore, Zitkala-Sa's early way of life is gone forever, and she can neverreturn to what she knew before, because that way of life has disappeared asthe white man ruthlessly moves ever Westward. Zitkala-Sa's mother laments,"'We were once very happy. These two narratives both give vivid descriptions of cruelty andcaptivity at the hands of two very different captors, and these two women'slives are forever affected by their ordeals. Having defrauded us of our land, the paleface forced usaway'" (Zitkala-Sa and Fisher 10). Zitkala-Sa's narratives show the other side of the coin. Zitkala-Sa is a sense becomes white. She writes of a happy and content lifeas a child, but this way of life was already disappearing, and she hadalready lost many of her family to violence by the "palefaces. " Yet, she and her family are ripped apart, andone that is more "acceptable" to the white society replaces her culture.
Common topics in this essay:
Zitkala-Sa Fisher,
Mary Rowlandson,
America Zitkala-Sa's,
,
life culture,
lost family,
zitkala-sa fisher,
indians fighting,
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Acceptance Essays
