04 February
1997
A Comparison and
Contrast of the
Supernatural's
Active Role in the
Lives of Mary
Rowlandson and Benjamin Franklin
The literature written during this time
period reflects
the important
part the supernatural (God) played during
those changing
times. The new world was struggling for a new
identity. Were these individuals also defining the role
of
God to
themselves?
In the preceding discussion the lives of
Mary
Rowlandson and
Benjamin Franklin will be discussed.
Each
wrote a narrative
of their life experiences. There are
marked contrasts
and comparisons between these two
individuals
related to their perceptions of God.
Religion was a vital part of life in
colonial America.
A shift from theism
to deism was occurring. The Puritans of
this time were
fleeing the Church of England. Their hope was
to return to the
more primitive ways, to reject the churches
hierarchy
and ritual.
Mary Rowlandson, a puritan in Lancaster,
Massachusetts
was captured by
Indians, along with three of her children in
the year
1676. In her narrative she relates the
story of
her survival in
the wilderness for a period of three months.
She is taken away
from her home and husband, "all was gone
(except my life);
and I knew not but the next moment that
might go
too" (127).
Benjamin Franklin's The Autobiography is
an account of
his life and
begins with his boyhood life in Boston. He
later flees to
Philadelphia to escape his brother's rule
over him. He
relates how he was "dirty", "fatigu'd", and
"Want of
Rest" (222).
In these depictions we can see an analogy.
These
individuals are
removed from their homes and families.
Although Benjamin
Franklin's removal was of his own free
will. They each suffered as they no longer had the
comforts
of which they
were accustomed.
Rowlandson's faith was remarkable
considering all that
she endured. Through out the narrative she must rely on
her
faith in God. She incorporates numerous verses from the
Bible to offer
explanations for all that she has suffered,
"Wait on the
Lord: be of good courage, and he shall
strengthen thine
heart: wait, I say on the Lord" (129). It
is also noted
that she was able to use her trade to survive,
"knitting a
pair of white cotton stockings for my
mistress"(130).
This is also a parallel to Franklin in that
he also used his
trade to survive. But one must ask what is
motivating
Rowlandson? Is she writing for posterity or is
she merely
egocentric? Rowlandson has depicted herself as
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the ultimate
Puritan. Was the glory to God or to
herself?
She also relates
here "how many Sabbaths I had lost and
misspent"
(128). It is interesting to note that toward the
end of the
narrative she begins to see that her fate is in
God's hands,
"When thou passest through the waters, I will
be with
thee"(133). At the end she recounts her old ways, "I
have seen the
extreme vanity of this world" (134).
Franklin, states, " I had been
religiously educated",
Iseldom attended
any Public Worship"(226). Some of the dogma
he described as
"unintelligible", "others doubtful" (225).
He saw a need to
center authority for our lives not in God
but in oneself.
He also noted "My conduct may be
blameable,
but I leave it
without attempting farther to excuse it"
(227). Franklin is explaining his behavior but not
making
apologies. It is also noted that he reveals that he had
undertaken
"the bold and arduous Project of arriving at
moral
perfection" (227). He had also written a "Form of
Prayer for my own
private use" (227). In Franklin's
"Thirteen
Names of Virtues", He lists the qualities he deems
"Desirable"
(228). Originally there were only 12 but "a
Quaker friend
kindly inform'd me that I was generally
thought
proud" (233). The last virtue is
humility, and his
statement
"imitate Jesus and Socrates", reflect deism(228).
Although Franklin
does state that he was not able to achieve
this virtue, he
reveals, " I had a good deal with regard to
the Appearance of
it" (233). Franklin also had a "Memorandum
Book", in
which he kept
track of his
virtues. The book was lined in red ink and his
faults were
marked in black, "which marks I could easily
wipe out with a
wet sponge"(231). Could this possibly be an
analogy to
God? Franklin is forming his own destiny
in
relation with his
deist beliefs. The ideas he projects are
rectitude,
justice and belief that happiness may be found in
secular values.
Near the end Franklin reviews his
"Scheme" and relates
it "was not
wholly without Religion" but it did not
necessarily
reflect any "particular sect"(233).
Is this an
elusion of the
America to come? A new world which offered
religious
freedom? This America in its infancy was
establishing an
identity free from the mother land. Breaking
the tie that
binds is never easy. In his Autobiography
Franklin was
seeking to establish a new identity for the new
world. This
parallels Rowlandson in that she at the
end of
her captivity has
evolved into a new person. Although
Rowlandson has
placed her fate more in the hands of her God.
Franklin
suggests that man controls his own
destiny but
also makes
reference throughout to God. He must
deal with
his excessive
pride, even as Mary Rowlandson has dealt with
her own vanity.
Thus the supernatural (God) did help to shape our
country to what
it is today. Our beliefs reflect what our
purpose is, what
our identity is. Mary Rowlandson and
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Benjamin Franklin
were setting the standards for Americans
to aspire to be.
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