Differences And Similarities Between Equiano And Mary Rowlandson

Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano: Comparing Captivity Experiences

Americans have been intrigued by captivity novels and works for centuries. It could be the sense of danger and unpredictability that makes them so interesting and popular. Or maybe the idea that captivity was quite possible for readers in previous centuries made captivity narratives popular in Colonial Times. Speaking of Colonial Times, two popular captivity narratives that took place in that era that have many similarities and differences are; A Narrative of the Captivity of Mary Rowlandson and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.

There is no captivity novel that contains nothing but pleasure and comfort. In other words, every captivity novel contains a large amount of sorrow. In the narratives, Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano both experienced massive amounts of misfortune during their periods of captivity. For example, Rowlandson writes of her daughter dying from wounds she sustained during the mass kidnapping, murder, and pillage

After reading my combination of the two narratives, some popular captivity narratives that took place in the colonial period that have many similarities and differences are; A Narrative of the Captivity of Mary Rowlandson and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. Prior to reading these narratives, I thought that the captivity process was always fully sad and depressing, but from Rowlandson and Equiano, I learned that you can make any situation good just by thinking of it from a certain point of view that probably helped both of them survive in the end. In finale, I’m grateful of the lessons I’ve learned from them and the things I’m able to take away from their