Avila 1
Pablo C. Avila
Instructor, Jane Holzka
SSH101.8767
1 July 2008
Religion: The Surviving Tool in Captivity Stories
In the three narratives of captivity, we are presented with a scenario filled of violence and
conflict between cultures. On the one hand, Indians want to preserve their culture, and on the
other hand, people who are captured are to go against it. This conflict between captors and
prisoners develops the use of religion as a tool to survive the violent treatment prisoners received
because they rely on the power given by The Lord to overcome their experience. Religion, thus,
becomes in a powerful tool for Vaca, Jogues, and Rowlandson when confronting their captors
and the experience itself because they feel relieved by the divine power God sends them.
In Vaca’s story, for instance, we can see how he draws his story based on the love and
power for healing The Lord gives them, creating a relationship of friendship between him and his
captors. Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Vaca faces his captivity experience by observing and laughing
at the Indians’ activities when healing people. He demonstrates this attitude when he says, “They
[the Indians] cure by blowing upon the sick” (32). Here, Vaca does not understand the process of
healing as efficient and laughs at it, as he says, “They [the Indians] ordered that we also should
do this . . . We laughed at what they did, telling them it was folly” (32). Ironically, Vaca and
other prisoners will end up healing people and making a turning point in his recount. As Vaca
continues with his recount, he finds himself in a situation where he goes to heal a sick man but
on his way there, he realizes the man is already dead. This situation is similar to similar to
described in the Holy Gospel of John, “The Raising of Lazarus.” Where Jesus is asked to go and
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see a man that was sick, but “when Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the
tomb for four days” (John 11: 17). In Lazarus’s case, Jesus went to him to resuscitate him after
his family thought he was dead and returns him back to life because of the power The Lord gives
him to heal people. A similar result is presented in Vaca’s story where the sick man is, at first,
presented as dead and finally comes back to life thanks to Vaca’s prayers to the Lord, as he says.
“I perceived that the sick man we went to heal was dead . . . when I arrived I found his
eyes rolled up, and the pulse gone . . . I removed a mat with which he was covered, and
supplicated our Lord as fervently as I could . . . Those to whom we gave the fruit tarried,
at returned at night to their houses, reporting that he who had been dead and for whom I
wrought before them, had got up whole and walked . . . ” (34).
This example shows the profound religion belief that faith can do whatever we want as
long as we pray for it with faith. Moreover, it creates a better relationship between Vaca and his
captors, this time, illuminated by the power The Lord gives him when he prays.
In Jogues’s story, we can see how he draws his story reflecting the passion of Christ
where Jesus uses the strength given by The Lord to survive the painful beating just before being
crucified. Father Isaac Jogues, a Jesuit priest, relies on his religion beliefs to survive his captivity
as the way Vaca did, too. Jogues, however, develops his story based on the passion of Christ
presented in the Holy Gospel of Matthew where Jesus is scourged after being handed over by
Pilate to be crucified. This point of comparison can be found when Jogues recalls.
“The more slowly the procession marched in a very long road, the more blows we
received. One was dealt above my loins, with the pommel of a javelin, or with an iron
knob, the size of one’s fist, which shook my whole body and took away my breath” (37).
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By this, Jogues describes how they suffered while being scourged. Besides, this specific
description of the situation resembles to the one described in the Gospel of Matthew before the
crucifixion of Jesus. The passion begins when Pilate hands Jesus over to be crucified. As it is
written, “then he [Pilate] released Barabbas to them, but after he had Jesus scourged, he handed
him over to be crucified” (Matthew 27: 26).
In the third story, Rowlandson uses her religion beliefs and captivity experience to reflect
on her own conversion as a human being. Mary Rowlandson develops her story in a different
way than Vaca and Jogues do because she sees her captivity experience as a call from The Lord
to reflect on her own conversion. She demonstrates this when she quotes the Holy Bible, “Oh
that my People had hearkened to me, and Israel had walked in my ways, I should soon have
subdued their Enemies and turned my hand against their Adversaries,” (Psal. 81:13, 14). By this,
Rowlandson shows that she is not following the path of The Lord and shows it through the
meaning of the quote from one of the Psalms—if you followed me, things would go better. For
that reason, she cannot overcome her captivity experience, that is why The Lord cannot give her
the power He gives to Vaca and Jogues because she is not trusting The Lord as the way Vaca and
Jogues do, she seems to trust in herself only. This behavior is also demonstrated when she
recalls.
“I had often before this said that if the Indians should come, I should chuse rather to be
killed by them than be taken alive, but when it came to the tryal, my mind changed; their
glittering weapons so daunted my spirit, that I chose rather to go along with those . . .
ravenous beasts than that moment to end my dayes . . .” (39).
By this, she emphasizes the fact that she prefers to have been killed instead of have been
taken alive, which shows her distrust in The Lord. But when she sees the weapons and the
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number of Indians around her, she simply gives up and ends up going along with them as a
prisoner.
Finally, these three stories of captivity show us how religion beliefs are used as a tool to
confront the violent and painful situations lived in the hands of the Indians. Vaca and Jogues
opted for reflecting a passage from the Holy Bible where Jesus finds the answer to the situation
by trusting in The Lord, similar result to the one got by them. Rowlandson, however, uses her
experience as a lesson sent by The Lord to get her back to track on the path to the salvation.
These three stories demonstrated how religion played a big role in people’s lives, in those who
lived and had strong faith on what they believed—a powerful faith that can calm and even
relieve a physical pain.
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Works Cited
The Source: North American Captivity Narratives. Going To the Source: The Bedford Reader To
the American History. Second Edition. Bedford/St. Martin’s. Boston: New York 2008:
32-41.
The New American Bible. Iowa Falls. U.S.A. 1991