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Literary Analysis Of William Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation

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In Of Plymouth Plantation, one of the most significant texts of the colonial literature in America, William Bradford presents his accounts of misfortunes endured by the Puritan founders - himself included - when settling in at New Plymouth in the early 1600’s. This essay discusses how Bradford echoed or clarified Puritan theology in his writing. Puritan pilgrims believed that God chooses the elected and the damned. It can be argued that Puritan beliefs affected the author’s interpretation and registering of events. Furthermore, it can be claimed that these beliefs may actually have guided his writing in an attempt to convince future readers that the founders were God’s chosen people predicted in the Old Testament, as evidenced hereafter. In his writing, Bradford wanted to emphasize the adversities the founding fathers had undergone during the trip aboard the Mayflower ship and upon arrival and establishment in Plymouth. The author describes how – by God’s providence – only the elected arrived safely and overcame other obstacles afterwards, in a way to influence future generations to remember the founders and keep following the Puritan ideals. Therefore, we may say that the author interpreted providence in a way to confirm that the Puritan pilgrims were the fulfilment of the promise about the chosen people predicted in …show more content…

According to Simmons (1981), William Bradford’s report of this first friendly encounter informs that the decision made by Massasoit, native people’s chief, “to make contact with the English was preceded by an assembly of shamans from all over the area” (p. 65), which was described by Bradford in a way to emphasize the Indians’ devilish

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