Religion

Each of the four writers included in this collection of travel narratives discuss religion as a regular part of their lives and as a central part of colonial American society. They present differing approaches to religion, however, that are interesting to compare.

Mary Rowlandson is the wife of a minister and makes her religious faith a prominent part of her narrative. Indeed, she claims that her reason for publishing her story is to provide an example for other religious people of how God delivered her from the ordeal and how she never lost faith. Her suffering was the will of God, intended to demonstrate his power to her and to those who hear her story. Rowlandson inserts Bible passages into her narrative to illustrate how she was guided at all times by God's word.

Sarah Knight is a businesswoman, and she mentions religious matters mainly in a factual...