Equiano Compare And Contrast Essay

Comparing and Contrasting: Rowlandson, Bradford, and Equiano A major element in the narratives of Mary Rowlandson and William Bradford was the presence of God. He is constantly cited as the reason for an event or thanked for a good fortune. God had such an influence on these writings because the writers were Puritans, who saw God in everything. They believed their lives were works of God and often kept diaries so they could document their days. In Mary’s narrative, we see a personal connection between her and God. She often thanks God for the little things which bring her happiness, peace, or comfort. She credits God for providing her with a Bible, overcoming the allure of tobacco, staying out of harm from Native Americans while she traveled
In Bradford’s narrative, the Pilgrims must settle in a strange, new, harsh world. The colonists endure a hard journey and have no warm buildings to welcome them ashore. They sleep in stick shelters. But we do not really live the adversity in Bradford’s narrative in the same way we are easily put into the experience in the other narratives. Bradford writes in a broad, sweeping fashion, while the other writers write with more detail. We hear about Mary’s captivity in her narrative. She is not fed very well, and in the early part of her captivity she had to live in pain from her injury. The Natives move frequently, which does not help her. Her captors have no respect for her. Obviously, Mary’s tribulations are terrible. But still, both narratives pale in comparison to Equiano’s narrative in terms of who had the worst experience. Equiano’s narrative is by far the hardest read when you picture what he went through. The conditions aboard the slave ship are horrifying: disease, abuse, cramped spaces, and terrible smells. It’s easy to picture the situation because Equiano describes it so vividly, yet hard to fathom how awful it really was to live. The stories are very different