Native American Captivity Narratives and the Ideals of Puritan Society

[Your Name]
[Instructor Name]
[Course Number]
[Date]
The First Explorers The narrative of Cabeza de Vaca is devoted to North America. In his account, de Vaca highlights rumors of wealth in the north of Mexico that later inspired explorers into the region keen on getting riches. Cabeza de Vaca's account is different from Bartolomé de las Casa and Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá as it offers greater detail about the native inhabitants and their way of life. In his account, de Vaca references various issues to the Americans, such as the Europeans' diseases. He says, "half the natives died from a disease of the bowels and blamed us" (De Vaca). This statement indicates that the Americans were blamed when the natives suddenly died in large numbers. When evaluating the author's trustworthiness, De Vaca is a versatile writer as he experienced and saw all the things he has highlighted in the book. The writer gives a unique account of all that happened without so much generalization. Des Casas is a bit vague in his analysis of the specific events. He says, "I saw all these things I have described, and countless others" (Des Casas). It is hard to know what the countless others are specifically. Villagra offers a rich text of historical information emphasizing his journey and encounter with the natives and their hospitality. In one instance, he says, “The natives of this pueblo came forth and gladly shared their homes with us" (Villagra). Throughout the text, he gives specific references that can only be regarded as accurate by someone who has experienced it. The three authors recognize God's power upon them in their journeys and highlight the theme of othering through the alienation of the natives. De Vaca talks about his reliance on God's providence, saying, "And caused us to thank our Lord heartily for showing us his kindness ever more fully and giving us the sure hope that he was going to free us and bring us to a place where we could serve Him"(De Vaca). Las Casas's theological insights affirmed the human dignity of the Indians. He stated that the Indians represented Christ through their sufferings, who was crucified. He says, "I leave in the Indies Jesus Christ, our God, scourged and afflicted and beaten and crucified not once, but thousands of times." He recognizes in this statement that the Indians went through suffering that can only be likened to Christ's suffering. Villagra emphasizes the mercy and the love of God. He states that upon hearing the lamentations of the Barbarians, Father Cristobal offered prayers asking God for rain. He says, "The next day at about the same hour they set up their wail, and the skies suddenly became dark…poured… torrents of rain" (Villagra). The term “barbarians” describes the natives as a form of discrimination based on their ethnicity. Each of these authors plays a part in the propaganda as a theme. Bartolomé de Las Casas is known to have freed his slaves and spoken against injustices and cruelties in the empire. Ironically, he was against slavery, yet he participated in the cruelty that impacted enslaved people. Villagra gave a narrative of the suffering of natives forgetting that he had also participated in causing atrocities to them while he was a soldier. Cabeza de Vaca's account emphasizes his desire to help adventurers gain knowledge on how to subdue other countries through Christianity, which can be looked at as political and religious propaganda.     Anne Bradstreet: The Prologue Anne Bradstreet's poem titled "Prologue" is an intellectually stimulating poem that brings various issues such as feminism, contemporary poetry, and psychology. To showcase her intellectual prowess, Bradstreet gives allusions to religion by analyzing Greeks and Christianity. Bradstreet produces an eight-stanza poem that uses literary devices that only an educated person would be aware of. For instance, each stanza is divided into six lines, commonly known as sestets, that follow a rhyme scheme of ABABCC. She uses allusion throughout the poem, which is an expression that calls something to mind without stating it.  It is evident that Bradstreet is well educated, and an avid reader through her mentions of work by famous writers. In the second stanza, she mentions "Bartas" as a reference to Guillaume du Bartas, a French Protestant poet whose work she admired (8). In the fourth stanza, she alludes to a Greek known as Demosthenes, an orator known to have overcome his speech impediment. She says: Nor can I, like that fluent sweet-tongued Greek  Who lisp’d at first, in future times speak plain (19 & 20)  By giving this example she indicates her desire to triumph the male-dominated world of poetry. To also highlight her intellect, Bradstreet gives reference to “Antique”, “Greeks”, “Else of our Sexe” and “historians” showcasing that she had explored diverse topics. Anne Bradstreet uses her poem-The Prologue to highlight puritan ideals. Bradstreet criticizes the order of things as required of Calvinism, especially regarding man being the superior being. She showcases her powerlessness in challenging this order of things when she says in stanza seven: Men have precedency and still excel;  It is but vain unjustly to wage war (38 & 39) In this statement, she openly states how it is impossible to challenge the superiority of men. As a female poet, she goes against the puritan ideals that emphasized the role of women in society. In the puritan doctrine, women were restricted from doing certain things, but Bradstreet deviates from this by coming out as an intellectual poet., Bradstreet's emotions come to the fore with her criticism of the role of women. She confesses that although she is a good writer, her work will not be acknowledged and she will be asked to ...