A Change in Outlook (page 4)

Although she still thought of Puritans as superior, her views of Puritan society underwent some minor changes. Contrary to Puritan beliefs, she began to think that God blessed the non-Christian Indians. Throughout the time she spent as a captive, she saw the Indians experience things that could have only came from the grace of God. She reflected "I can but admire to see the wonderful providence of God in preserving the heathen for farther affliction to our poor Countrey," acknowledging that there was a strong spiritual presence in their society (105). A very insightful comment of hers was "I have seen the extreme vanity of this World" (111). This comment suggests that she viewed the Puritans as extremely material compared to the Indians.
Mary Rowlandson did not view the Indians as the Puritans' equals after her captivity ended. However, she was an enlightened soul. She began to view them as a different society rather than an evil society, and at the same time, noticed that the Puritan society was not as perfect as she previously thought.

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