Analyze one of the book themes at play in John Demos's The Unredeemed Captive - Essay Example

The story starts with a reason that further leads to the cultural integration suitable to the situation. It’s a story of abduction and adoption by Indians of the American settlers (Sweeney 32). The Mohawk Indians are assisted by the French in Canada. They together attempt to attack a small village with name of Deerfield located in Massachusetts. They had targeted revered John Williams, the than Minister from Deerfield because they intended they get their man, with the name of Jean Baptist Gayen rescued in return, who had been held from Boston.

Two of John William’s kids were murdered the night of the kidnap and the rest of the family was moved to Canada along with a number of other captives who were also taken up from Deerfield for the same cause of personal gain. John Williams’s family saw this event highly distressful and damaging. They kept very little hope of getting to see each other ever again. John William manages to break through the hostage couple of years later. He remarries another lady after back home and recollects his shattered life to give it a new start.

His rest of the children were also set free, leaving behind his daughter, Eunice Williams in their custody. The story majorly revolves around her and the way she chooses to built her life with the Native Americans willingly, once she experiences growing up amongst them. John Williams, the famous Revered of Deerfield is illustrated by John Demos to get stunned and spell bound by the choices his daughter, Eunice is shown to make for herself. After being left alone to live amongst them she has no other option rather than to settle herself with their norms and culture.

She was at the age seven when she got taken up the Native Americans. In the early years of her captivity, as a young kid she feared the Native Americans when left to live alone with them. She begged her father to manage for her rescue from their custody (The Archive Organization 33). John Williams did nothing practically to get her rescued. He met her on regular basis and tried to get the process carried out on the official basis. Her desire to get out of the culture subsided along with the time and alongside developed into a revenge against her father and other protestants who had not dared to get her rescued from the alien culture where as a child she had frequently felt she did not belong to (Sweeney 12).

She, along with the time instilled the culture to her roots and felt as a member of the Native Indian culture. She carried her physical appearances in the same way as they did and adopted their norms in her daily life. She also made religious shifts and got converted to Catholicism (The Archive Organization 57). In wider scenario, it’s the description of a girl, who uses a culture she had been abandoned into, to revenge against her own people, who had left her years earlier as young girl- it’s the Indian Culture’s insight through a young girl’s life (Meorial Hall Mueseum 11).

Cronon’s Changes in the Land William Cronon, the author of another famous book “Changes in the land” has also investigated the ecological changes from Indian to European dominance during the time period of 1620 to 1800 (William Coron Net 16). Demo’s book in my opinion is not reflective of the true way Cronon has