One example of a white woman held in captivity is, Mary Rowlandson. Mary Rowlandson was held in captivity by the Indians for three months during King Philip'sWar. The Indians attacked her village and took her and her three children captive. Rowlandson was tortured, starved, and had to suffer through the death of a child. Through these horrific times, Mary Rowlandson chose to rely on God. She learned to look beyond present troubles and put her whole dependance on God. Mary Rowlandson's personal experience of captivity is remembered as being horrific when thinking about the physical and physcological consequences that came from it but also as being a faith growing experience.

The Heath Anthology of American Literature, 6th edition: Volume A
Editor: Paul Lauter

The Jesuit relations is another example of a captivity narrative. The Jesuit Relations is a series of reports from Jesuit missions in New France. They were a worlwide missionary program with a mission to convert Huron Indians to Catholicism. In the early 1640's tensions between the French and the five Iroquois tribes, rose dramatically. The Iroquois began a series of attacks upon the Hurons and they forced the Jesuits to abandon their missions in Huronia. Father Isaac Jogues was traveling from Huron country to Quebec with Huron converts, trying to convert otherHurons. Him and the Huron converts were caught and captured. Jogues letters tell about his personal experience of captivity. Jogues was tortured during his captivity but he expressed it was not a nightmare. He eventually escaped his captors and became apart of a clan. After a while, he returned to where he was held captive to initiate a Jesuit mission. Father Jogues was put to death. This narrative was written to show the dedication of Jogues and the Huron converts to their faith. Jogues died trying to tell others about the gift of Eternal Life. He wanted to finish what he felt God called him to do.

The Heath Anthology of American Literature, 6th Edition: Volume A
Editor: Paul Lauter

Another example of a captivity narrative is the the life of Mary Jemison. Mary Jemison was born on a ship as her family traveled to make a new life in the "New World". At 15 years old, Mary Jemison was captured by the Indians while living with her parents in Pennsylvania. Her family was killed and the Seneca Indians adopted her. She married an Indian and had two children. Later, her first husband died and she remarried to a chief and had six more children. During this time was the Revolutionary War. The Senecas and other tribes were the targets of the the American army. The American Army invaded Jemison's village and burned their homes and land. Jemison and her family fled to a town further South of where she lived and found shelter. This is where her family rebuilt there lives and lived for sixty years. A great council was held where they lived and they honored Mary Jemison with 18,000 acres of land that her family had previously owned. Mary Jemison died at age 90. This narrative would not be considered horrific even though her family was killed, she was captured, and had to run from the American army. This story was written to tell how the Seneca Indians were her family and those lands were her home.

Michelle Burnham wrote a book called "Captivity and Sentiment: Cultural Exchange in American Literature". In the introduction, she presents the argument why do captivity narratives often inspire the response of tears?  From the captivity stories written in the Bible to the sentimental present media coverage on the news of American hostages in the Middle East, representation of captivity often is accompanied with tears. The tears often come from the spectators rather than the captives themselves. The readers feel a sensation of belonging and a connection to the captive. Burnham feels that the meaning of sympathy is contradicting. She believes that sympathy does not always have to relate to homelessness and confinement but it can be a feeling of belonging which is pleasurable. If the reader is moved by the scenes of confinement then that is because the reader feels affected just as the captive was affected. Burnham wrote this book to present the complexity of sympathy in captivity narratives. She examined narratives such as Mary Rowlandson’s in which readers have a fascination for. Readers use narratives like hers to escape their own problems and focus on the problems of someone else. This gives readers the sense of pleasure. This shows that some see captivity narratives as significant because it allows them to escape from their own world. Michelle Burnham wrote this book to show the writer and the reader’s focus of sympathy and how the sentimentality of these narratives allows escape.