Puritans By Anne Bradstreet: Poem Analysis

Early Puritans led simple, modest lives, free of materialistic temptations. According to today's high standards, Puritans appear to have led almost primitive lives. However, in that time in history, their humble homes were a large part of their daily lives, and they were viewed upon as being a gift from God. In her poem, Anne Bradstreet describes the importance of her house, despite the fact that she chastises herself for yielding to the temptations of vanity and materialism.
Religion was, for the Puritans, first and foremost in their lives. To them, religion was centered around the Covenant, a personal, inner connection with God in which God promised to provide support and protection in return for loyal devotion and good works. As a result,
Native Americans believed in divine intention, the idea that humans are not masters of the world, but recipients of its resources. Consequently, they viewed themselves as being on the same level as the other creatures of nature. It was Mother Earth's support that allowed the Native Americans to endure. As creatures of nature, humans were linked together in the Circle of Life. Therefore, it was not merely nature's resources that allowed the Native Americans to survive, but the mutual aid and support they shared with one another. In other words, Native Americans shared a uniform goal in helping one another. As a result, had the incidence described in the Bradstreet's poem occurred with a Native American, the reaction would have been substantially different. Rather than looking to God to provide a solution to their problem, the Native Americans may have turned to each other. Native Americans were similar to the Puritans in that they basically had no material possession. However, it appears to be Anne Bradstreet's desire for materialistic possessions that makes God intervene and burn down her house. Contrastingly, Native Americans may have blamed the fire on Mother Nature, rather than God. Because Native Americans had a stronger connection to the Earth than to any man-made structure, the burning down of the house may represent a full cycle in the circle of life: a single seed blossoming into a sturdy tree is cut down and used to provide the foundation of a house, and when the house burns down, its ashes return it to where it originated. One final trait that could be a factor of the Native American reaction is their practice of stoicism. Because of this practice, the Native Americans didn't really show much emotion, and therefore it may be hard to describe the impact of the burning of one's house. While the Puritans would have looked to God to provide an explanation of the burning of a