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The first week of my being among them, I hardly eat any thing; the second week, I found my stomach grow very faint for want of something; and yet it was very hard to get down their filthy trash; but the third week, though I could think how formerly my stomach would turn against this or that, and I could starve and die before I could eat such things, yet they were sweet and savory to my taste.

This passage, which appears in the Fifth Remove, reveals how Rowlandson’s thoughts and actions have changed in her time among the Native Americans. On a practical and logical level, it is not surprising that Rowlandson finds herself willing to eat foods that previously disgusted her. Three weeks of little food and strenuous travel have taken a physical toll on Rowlandson, and her body’s need for nourishment is strong enough to overcome any squeamishness she previously felt about eating the Native Americans’ food. On a psychological level, however, Rowlandson finds her increased appetite worrisome. She wants to survive in order to be reunited with her family and to teach others the lessons she has learned during captivity, so being able to eat her captors’ food without feeling nausea or disgust is a blessing from God, a sign of divine favor. At the same time, Rowlandson worries about her own capacity for savagery and fears she may devolve to the barbarism of the Native Americans. A willingness to eat horse liver and bear meat, therefore, brings anxiety. It proves Rowlandson’s ever-increasing distance from civilization and suggests her growing similarity to her captors.

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