Mary's Master provides observations and
interpretations of the English colonization of the area
presently known as southern New England. This is a critical
review of some of the English writings and quotes regarding
those interactions that were contemporary to the time that
natives were colonizing the area. The major event that
defined this time was King Philip's War from 1675 through
1676 which resulted in the crushing defeat of the natives
who lived in that part of New England.
The
primary story in Mary's Master centers upon the captivity of
one of the English women during that war, Mary Rowlandson.
Her narrative is considered to be the most widely read
American captivity story ever written. The accounts of other
English captives reveal behavior by the natives that shows
humanity in great contrast with the savagery attributed to
them by most contemporary writers. Mary Rowlandson's
"master" is, Quanopin, a Narragansett sachem whom Mary
admires despite all the anti-Indian rhetoric she has been
exposed to by others. While their time together is brief,
it is exceptional because she expresses an admiration for
him not conveyed toward any other Indian, which was unusual
for those times and still is today.
