Bonus question for all: Mary Rowlandson, Action Hero?
Anyone can write on this question for extra participation credit, and we will also talk about in the honors section, when people are ready.
Let's test the assertion I made in lecture last week, following many other scholars, that Mary Rowlandson's captivity narrative forms the beginning of American popular culture, in particular the genre of violent adventure story that later developed into the western and more recently into what we tend to call the thriller or the action movie. Compare and contrast Rowlandson's narrative with any other American adventure story you know well. A movie or a novel will do nicely, especially one that involves captivity and/or a woman in danger and/or a violent struggle for survival in some sort of "wilderness" setting, which might be the actual wilderness or some other inhospitable, forbidding place (like a dangerous city neighborhood).
I will leave this question open until the end of October, so take your time and submit a creative, thoughtful answer if you would like some extra credit.
Let's test the assertion I made in lecture last week, following many other scholars, that Mary Rowlandson's captivity narrative forms the beginning of American popular culture, in particular the genre of violent adventure story that later developed into the western and more recently into what we tend to call the thriller or the action movie. Compare and contrast Rowlandson's narrative with any other American adventure story you know well. A movie or a novel will do nicely, especially one that involves captivity and/or a woman in danger and/or a violent struggle for survival in some sort of "wilderness" setting, which might be the actual wilderness or some other inhospitable, forbidding place (like a dangerous city neighborhood).
I will leave this question open until the end of October, so take your time and submit a creative, thoughtful answer if you would like some extra credit.
posted by Jeff Pasley at 6:17 PM
20 Comments:
The story of Mary Rowlandson has made American pop culture what it is today. That same story plot and setting is sued over and over again. Everytime it is successful because people enjoy hearing about personal triumphs, and strong will, never giving it up. These instances ignite the idea that everyone is a capable of overcoming overwhelming odds that are not stacked in there favor. The story that I will compare Mary Rowlanson's narrative as I am sure many others will to because it provides such a good comparison to the movie Gladiator. As in the Rowlandson story Russel Crowes character maximus was forced to adapt his military skills to survive as a gladiator after he was betrayed by Sparta. Mary and Maximus were both taken from there natural surrounding and forced to live in a completely alien land. The one major difference here is that Mary wanted to get back to her people and old life while Maximus only wanted to get back for revenge, not to rejoin the Spartan society.
Mary Rowlandson's narrative opens ups new doors for a different type of genre, an American thriller with a female taking on the role a protaganist. A more current example of this would be the movie Pirates of the Caribbean. Elizabeth was a proper English lady brought up in a victorian society. She was captured by a group of savage barbaric pirates and forced to live their gruesome life style. Elizabeth refused to adjust to the pirates life style and even tried to escape. Mary experienced very similar circumstances being captured by savage indians and induring many hardships. While being unsucessful in escaping she was forced to pay a ransom and was set free. Both these women overcame diversity in being captured and forced to live a foreign way.
Mary's capture and story has influenced movies and stories in pop culture today greatly. Many movies have been made that can fall under the category of having the same plot as hers. One movie I chose was King Kong. The girl that was exploring with the men in the wilderness was in a higher class and new nothing of barbaric encounters. When she is captured she is tossed around and hurt by King Kong. This made the europeans with her think he was barbaric and they wanted to kill or capture him for it. The same goes with Mary. After her encounter it gave the Native American population the "savage" reputation.
Similiar stories to captivity narratives are written all the time. People like to see and read these things because they add excitment and hear people's stories of survival. A similiar story I have read to Mary Rowlandson's is "Olaudah Equiano" written by himself. This man was sold into slavery and was forced to work for other people all his life. He was a very strong person and never let anyone push him around. He met the Quackers and they introduced him to faith. In the end he stayed strong and was able to buy his freedom.
Although this story is not exactly the same as Mary's story I see similiar characteristics. They both were captured and worked hard to stay alive. They didn't let anyone come in between them and what they wanted or believed.
National Geographic is airing a show at the moment titled "Last One Standing." This series is about a group of men that were selected to go into several different extremely remote tribes around the world and compete in their respective tribal games. Some of which include stick fighting, wrestling, and scraping their bodies with pirahna teeth along with the other indigenous people as a sign of courage and mind power.
This is similar to Mary Rowlandson's story because they are taken from their normal living enviroment (willing yes, but nonetheless taken) and forced to adapt to their surroundings in order to continue on in their pursuit. Although their goals maybe be different (Competitors and Mary) they are still after the same thing prize and that is to survive.
Glad to see so many comments already, but please try to think a little harder about meaningful and substantive similarities, and differences as well as similarities. What did survival in a hostile environment mean for Rowlandson versus the heroes in these later stories? What methods did she and they use?
As a continuation of my last post, a more meaningful similarity between the two is that one of the men on the show was quoted to say that he believed the opportunity to be "his calling." Whereas Mary Rowlandson would not leave the village where she was captured from because she believed the event to be God's way of tested her faith to him. Also one way that Mary was kept around for as long as she was, was because she was very good at knitting. She used this to her advantage because the indians liked her work. A man on The Last One Standing named Brad is looked at by the natives as a man amoung boys. He is a professional bodybuilder, and because of his massive body everyone was highly anticipating his match. They wanted him to stick around so that they could use him to their advantage as did the indians with Mary. As far as differences go, aside from the obvious (t.v. show, time in history, reality) Mary does not have to face the same sort of challenges as these men do based soley on the fact that she is a woman and they are men. They are not expected to contribute to the tribes the same way and therefore cannot be compared closely and held to the same standards.
Mary Rowlandson's story provides comparison with the movie the Patriot. It has been a while since I saw it but Mel Gibson's character is gone from his family, and has to go through the hardship of losing one of his sons, and being away from his wife. The family back home is always in danger of british invasion. The time period is similar as well, and the characters portray how harsh life was before our country's revolution.
I can compare Mary Rowlandson's captivity narrative to John Woo's "Face/Off." John Travolta's character is a FBI agent with a love for the law. The antagonist (Nicolas Cage) is a drug dealing cop killer who is perceived as Travolta's arch rival. However, after finally capturing Cage, John Travolta must use Cage's face to infiltrate the criminal world in an attempt to stop mass destruction. After a while, John begins to sympathize with the harsh and unforgiving conditions of the criminal lifestyle. He even looks after Cage's girlfriend and son. This can be compared to Mary's narrative because of the moral struggle that John Travolta must go through while dealing with the criminal lifestyle. As hard as he tries to hold on to his old beliefs of "good guy good, bad guy bad" he begins to understand that not all criminals have the free will he once thought they had. In a sense, he no longer sees them as savage people, but began to see the world from their point of view, same as Mary in her experience with her Indian captors. Travolta is a prisoner in the criminal world, but learns that it is not as barbaric and cold as he originally thought. In the end, John Travolta does get his face back, and returns to being a FBI agent. However, he adopts Cage's son after his mother is killed. This proves that he still has connections and strong feelings for the boy, even though he was brought up in a life of crime. This compares to Mary's feelings about the Indians, even after she is reintroduced to civilization.
I understand I went out on a limb with this comparison, but it is pretty solid, and I am feeling good about it.
Almost any movie with captivity or a violent struggle could have roots that stem back to Mary Rowlandsons's story. Currently, there are plenty of movies and books out there that would fall under the category of captivity/struggle for survival. The movie series, Rambo, is a great example of captivity and a struggle for survival in some sort of wilderness setting. Both Rambo and Rowlandson's story contained horrible conditions in the wilderness and a struggle for survival. They were also both prisoner's of war, in a sense. Even though the Rambo movie was a fictional work, it relates really well to Rowlandson's story and the roots to her story can be seen in the movie.
Rambo and Rowlandson's story may be really similar, but their struggle for survival had a little different meaning. In Rambo's case, surviving meant protecting his country and fellow countrymen that were captured. He was sent into a foreign land to rescue POWs and becomes captured while on the mission. In Rowlandson's case, survival was of a personal measure.
A movie that made the scene in 1977 is similar to the story of Mary Rowlandson. This movie is Star Wars IV: A New Hope. This is comparable because just as Mary was captured by the Native Americans, Princess Leia was also taken from her home into the hands of Darth Vader. Also, Mary Rowlandson had settlers from her town looking for her vigorously, just as Princess Leia had Luke Skywalker and Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, as well as the rest of the Rebel Alliance in search of her. Princess Leia had a horrible experience with her captures just like Mary did, and was often threatened and mistreated. The war that took place between the two forces in Star Wars is similar to the struggle between Indians and colonists because danger loomed around the people at all times. However, the battle taking place in Star Wars happened long ago, in a galaxy far, far, away, and Mary Rowlandson’s story took place in the USA in the early colonial period. Most importantly, the outcome of the situation between the Rebel Alliance and the Empire affected the entire population of mankind, and Mary Rowlandson’s story only affected a hand full of people.
The first move that came into my mind when I read this topic on how movie can compare to the life of Mary Rowlandson was Patriot. Staring Mel Gibson, as he is trusted in to the world of war and is do all he can to protect the one thing that means the most to him, his family. This takes place during the British invasion where Gibson is forced to take a side for or against the British, luckily he is a very skilled leader of armies and soon has men of his own that begin to use such things as gorilla tactics to defeat the British. They do very well considering they are only a group of volunteers and have minimum training. Gibson's fight with the British and struggle to survive portrays to the same sense of Mary Rowlandson struggle to survive with the Indians. As Rowlandson had her sewing to aid herself in survive and Gibson had his military background both had to fight to stay alive.
Not only did Mary Rowlandson inspire action/thriller movies such as the Patriot and Pirates of the Caribbean but also childrens movies. My answer to this question may seem very childish but the one movie that comes to my mind when I think of Mary Rowlandson is Finding Nemo. Like Rowlandson, Nemo was captured and placed in a new environment that he had to adapt to. Even though he made new friends and learned new ideas, he still had hopes of escaping. He was determined, like Rowlandson to find a way out of his situation that would lead him back to a lifestyle that he was used to leading. Finding Nemo is on a much smaller scale that Rowlandson. Unlike Nemo, Rowlandson was beaten and treated very poorly by her capturers. Rowlandson endured the pain and held on tightly to her religous beliefs. Eventually, like Nemo, she escaped captivity and returned to a her old lifestyle.
When I heard the story of Mary Rowlandson, there was one movie that came to mind. That movie is Lonsome Dove. This is a western movie with cowboys and indians. In this movie the cowboys are herding cattle north in order to make money and settle on a ranch. With them is a woman whom is in love with one of the cowboys. On their way north the woman is captured by the Indians. The Indians treat her very poorly and abuse her alot. She is with the Indians for awhile, but of course the cowboys end up saving her. However she is not the same for a long time after being rescued. This movie is a lot like Mary Rowlandson's dealings with the Indians. It over exagerrates the harshness of the Indians and it has the heroic rescue of the captive. Her story has done alot for our culture today and our entertainment.
Although it is not an American based film, the movie and character I thought of after reading Mary Rowlandson was Maximus from the Gladiator. Maximus was a well established general in the Roman army which I thought was similar to Rowlandson in that she had a family and was a well respected member in her community. Maximus was set be the next emperor after earning much respect over his years of service for the aging emperor. The son of the then current emperor had different plans. The selfish son killed his own father so he could be emperor himself. The son obviously was very envious of Maximus and went to the extreme of death to fulfil his passion. Maximus is then taken captive and is ordered to be executed. Both Rowlandson and Maximus kept a good focus under captivity. Their families are what gave them strength. Maximus escapes his execution to go back to his family in Spain but by that time it was too late, his family had been executed. The rest of the movie is about Maximus obtaining revenge on the Emperor. Overall, I think Maximus and Rowlandson used proper motives to endure treacherous times. When most people would have given up they stuck to what they believed.
Mary Rowlandson’s narrative can be compared to the movie “Behind Enemy Lines”. During this movie an American soldier’s plane is shot down and therefore, he is stranded within the enemy’s territory. The whole movie is focused on the soldier trying to escape the enemy and get back home safely. Mary Rowlandson used her skills to survive the time she spent with the Indians. She read her bible and used her native language every day. In the movie, the soldier used his military skills to escape the enemy. Both, Mary Rowlandson and the soldier used their skills and hope to get home safely.
There are many examples of man verses wild in American literature and popular culture. It exemplifies the American hero to see a man battle nature, and learn to tame it. The movie Cast Away staring Tom Hanks is a story about a man who is stranded on an island and learns to battle the elements and survive thanks to his own ingenious inventions and will to live. It is a truly remarkable story that makes people believe in the power of man, which, in many ways, is the purpose of Mary Rowlandson’s narrative—to show the power the Puritan English had over the wild natives. Although Hanks never encounters any type of civilization in the movie (he is completely alone on the island) in many ways, Rowlandson suggests that the Indians are not civilized, and therefore are a part of the wilderness. Both stories begin similarly. In Cast Away, Hanks is suddenly stranded on an island when the Fed Ex plane crashes in a storm taking the life of the pilot. He is now cut off from the world he knows with no means of communication. Rowlandson experiences a similar story beginning when she is kidnapped by the Indians who raid her house and kill many members of her family. Both cases are violent and extremely unexpected and our main character is one of the only survivors. When our heroes are thrown into this horrible predicament, they both make the best of it. We see how they use the knowledge of the civilized world to help them survive in the wilderness. Rowlandson receives food and protection from the Indians’ when she is able to sew them the goods they need, a skill she knows from her English past. Hanks uses the Fed Ex packages, or man-made material goods, as tools to help him build shelter and obtain food. He uses the blades on a pair of ice skates to cut down tress to build a shelter. In both cases our heroes use the civilization from their past lives to help them combat and control their wilderness surroundings. Both Rowlandson and Hanks face starvation and hardships that are unimaginable to their audience who are reading or watching the narrative unfold from their own comfortable surroundings. Also, in their current state, both characters need something that links them to their own civilization to keep them going and prevents them from giving up hope. For Rowlandson, this is God. Her faith is what helps her face her problems and keeps her spirits lifted. Hanks has two objects from his old world that keep him going. One is the volleyball that becomes his friend and the other is the package that he is determined to deliver. This determination to reach a specific goal helps him survive when all hope seems lost. Making the volleyball into his friend and companion also helps Hanks combat the overwhelming loneliness, which is why he is so upset to lose him in the ocean at the end. Although Rowlandson is surrounded by other people in her narrative, they are so unlike her that she cannot relate to them so the lonely void she has is filled with her faith that God is with her. Both Mary and Tom are seen as heroes in the end of their stories because they go up against nature and win. Both of them return to their respective societies and after a period of adjustment are integrated back into the civilization they left. Although the two of them face horrendous hardships, and dangerous life threatening situations, by their previous skills and knowledge, they are able to avoid death and come out victorious. Rowlandson’s story sets the precedent that many American novels and stories copy for years to come.
Mary Rowlandsons captivity narrative has a maj0or influence on modern day theatre and films. Such as Mel Gibsons, "Apocolypto". A story of an Indian tribe who is attacked and many families and people are killed in very vulger ways. Some of the family members hide as the husband that is still alive is running for his life. This compares to Rowlandsons in the way that she is attacked by another culture and treated extremely poor. She had it a little easier than the character in "Apocolypto", but her life was changed forever.
Mary Rowlandson’s captivity can be compared to the movie Hook. In Hook, the little boy is captured by Mr. Hook, the captain of all the pirates. The little boy is then made over into a pirate, adapting to their customs and way of life. The boy begins to enjoy the new life of being a pirate, believing that he is actually one. He forgets about his old life and only thinks about the excitement and amusement of being a pirate. The boy finally felt like he was being accepted.
This situation in the movie Hook is related to the narrative of Mary Rowlandson’s captivity because these two stories demonstrate how people can adapt to a new environment and like it better than what they were used to before. Even though Mary was a prisoner to the Indians, just like the boy in Hook, Mary began to enjoy the Indian’s way of life.
Sometimes being exposed to new cultures and ideas could help a person truly figure out who they are. Despite the fact that Mary and the little boy were prisoners, they still enjoyed their time being captives. The time spent in these unfamiliar environments allowed Mary and the boy to see a new prospect of life.
Mary Rowlandson's captivity narrative shares many common ideas to the much more recent novel The Color Purple. Both of these writings heavily portray women in distress and being oppressed by others. In Alice Walker's novel, Celie is a young and uneducated black girl who is constantly abused by her father. Her constant mistreatment lead to her being a victim and a "woman in danger." Similiarly, Mary Rowlandson is in her mind heavily oppressed when she is captured by the Native Americans and taken out of her settlement. While both of these women are in danger and being oppressed both cope with their problems in a spiritual manner. Celie keeps a journal and constantly prays to God asking her to be safe and for things to change. Similiarly Mary Rowlandson keeps her faith and prays and hopes for better things. She believes because of her faith things will turn out for the best. Both of these women were treated poorly and had to overcome heavy adversity, but in doing so both of these women's lives were changed forever.
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