Atrocity and Captivity Narratives

Atrocity and captivity narratives are a literary genre almost unique to English citizens and their colonial counterparts. Stories of atrocities committed during the English Civil War in the 17th century, published by both sides, were a popular propaganda tool to demonize the enemy and justify retaliatory acts, which often prompted further publications. Truthfulness in the accounts was secondary to the shock value of detailed descriptions of the torture of prisoners, women, and children. In North America, the style was modified to encompass conflicts between English colonists and Native Americans and often revolved around a captive held prisoner by a Native American group.

The most common form of the captivity narrative from this period involved a solitary colonist taken prisoner, who almost always professed a great religious faith and portrayed the captors as uncivilized savages. The narratives often depicted acts of brutal violence, including the torture and execution of fellow captives. The imprisonment typically ended through a ransom or successful escape. By the end of the 17th century, the captivity narrative had become one of the most popular forms of literature within the American colonies and remained an important American genre through the 19th century. The captivity narrative, while not unique to the American colonies, was a dominant form only among English-speaking populations. Similar narratives in other regions never attained the popularity common in the English colonies.

One of the earliest colonial narratives was written by Capt. John Smith, taken captive in December 1607 by Native Americans living in the Chesapeake Bay area. He reported that he was guarded by dozens of warriors and lavishly fed by their chief, Powhatan, who apparently intended to execute Smith. Smith's narrative was first published in [Page 63]1608, but not until 1624 did Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan, appear in the tale, intervening to save Smith's life. In earlier editions, Smith made no mention of why his life was spared. Whatever the role of Pocahontas, Smith was released by his captors and allowed to return to Jamestown, where he dispatched the story of his captivity for publication in London. Smith's 1624 account of the incident has since become an American legend, the subject of countless retellings and revisions, from the romantic epic written by the British expatriate writer John Davis in 1803 to the animated Disney movie.

Smith did not understand the Native American custom of taking captives. The quest for prisoners arose from an ancient practice of strengthening a tribe through the forceful addition of new members. Women and children were the most common captives primarily because they were the most likely candidates for successful assimilation into a tribe. Much more rarely did men join a tribe and remain dedicated to the new social group. As European and Native American populations came into contact, the practice continued, although in some cases, prisoners were taken as a means of collecting ransoms.

Smith's narrative is less graphic than most and contains few descriptions of atrocities. Many other narratives include grisly details about the torture of colonists by Native Americans, which often culminates in execution and a cannibalistic feast. In particular, missionaries seem to have been tempting targets for these atrocities and the natural subject of many narratives. The underlying assumption of many captivity narratives is that all Native Americans are savage cannibals who cannot be integrated into civilized colonial society. According to these narratives, they are to be feared and avoided, never to be trusted. In many ways, Native Americans are portrayed as subhuman, particularly in their desire for the flesh and blood of Europeans.

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