Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1941

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Foreword

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Chapters 10-13

Chapters 14-16

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary: “Come What May”

The novel opens in the Jemison family home in Marsh Creek Hollow, Pennsylvania, in 1758. The Jemison family is sitting around the table, having just eaten dinner. Twelve-year-old Molly’s father, Thomas Jemison, asks her to “go fetch Neighbor Dixon’s horse” for him to borrow (30). Jane Jemison, Molly’s mother, objects to Molly going to the neighbor’s house alone so late in the day. Thomas insists that the boys are needed for evening chores and instructs Molly to sleep at Dixon’s and come back in the morning.

Before Molly leaves, the family is interrupted by another neighbor, Chet Wheelock. Chet warns that Indians are “a-killin’, a-butcherin’ and a-plunderin’ as they come” (36). He invites the Jemisons to flee the area, along with his own family; despite Jane’s fears, Thomas is not worried and insists on staying. Chet asks if he and his sister-in-law, along with her three children, can stay until their sick horse recovers. The Jemisons agree and prepare to host them.

Molly is happy to leave the house and go on her errand to borrow Dixon’s horse. The next morning, she returns through the woods. Instead of feeling carefree in the forest, she feels tense and fearful. Molly arrives home, relieved to find that her family is safe.

The “scene of bright happiness” in the house is suddenly interrupted by the sound of gunshots (48). A group of Native Americans enter the house, and Molly sees that Chet Wheelock and Dixon’s horse have been killed. Molly tries to get her father’s gun, but one of the men stops her. Molly and the others are brought outside. Molly watches men bind up her father and ransack the house. Standing outside, Molly “realized now for the first time that they were prisoners” (55). She sees Frenchmen with the Indians and wonders what will happen next.

Chapter 2 Summary: “The Long Journey”

After a discussion between the Frenchmen and the Indians, the group begins walking. As they march, Molly takes in the sight of her home and wonders what will happen to the farm and the animals after they are gone. Molly tries to speak to her father, but he is detached and silent. The Frenchmen and Indians rush the prisoners onward. One of the Indians whips the children’s legs if they slow down, and an old Indian follows behind the group, removing signs of their footsteps. Molly is unfamiliar with the trail but realizes that they are heading towards mountains.

Molly’s older sister Betsey drops her three-year-old brother, Matthew, in exhaustion. Molly is the only one who can pick him up, and she carries him in her arms. Molly is struck by her beautiful surroundings; years later, she will still recall “the tender beauty of that spring morning” (64).

The group travels all day without stopping. They stop to sleep briefly in the woods, with no food or shelter offered to the captives. The next day, the group stops for breakfast, and the women and children are given food. Molly offers bread to her father, but he refuses to eat. As they march, Molly and Betsey take turns holding Matthew. In the evening, the group is brought into a swamp. At first, the women and children refuse the food offered to them, but Mrs. Jemison encourages them to eat. Once again, Molly’s father refuses to eat.

The old Indian gives Molly and Davy Wheelock moccasins for their feet. Molly’s mother realizes that Molly and Davy will be taken away and quickly gives Molly important instructions. She tells her to “make the best of things” and to never run away from the Indians (72). She encourages her to be brave and to remember her family, her language, and her faith. Molly is affected by her mother’s words but collects herself and follows Davy and the old Indian. Molly’s mother bids her farewell, and Molly’s father “[comes] out of his stupor for a moment” (74). He tells her that the Indians will not hurt her because of her “pretty yaller hair” the color of corn (74).

The old Indian leads Molly and Davy far away and sets up a comfortable camping spot for them. Davy wants to run away, but Molly remembers her mother’s warning and persuades him that running away is impossible. She decides to have courage, “not only for herself but for Davy” (76).

The next day, the other Indians and Frenchmen reappear. Molly and Davy ask about their families but receive no answers. Day after day, Molly and Davy travel with their captors up into the mountains. Molly is aware of the kindness of the old Indian; at one point, he even stops another Indian from killing her. The old Indian, named Shagbark, persuades the others in the group to rest for several days. Before departing again on their journey, they are joined by another group of Indians. This group has “one white captive, a young man of twenty” (83), with them. At first, the presence of an older, stronger captive gives Molly hopes of an escape. She quickly realizes, however, that “he was more in need of help than she” (84).

Chapter 3 Summary: “Fort Duquesne”

The group continues their long journey. Molly discovers that the new white captive is named Nicholas Porter. He repeats the story of how he was captured while hunting for squirrel for his mother’s pot-pie, and Molly wishes he could focus on “more important things” (86).

The group arrives at the French Fort Duquesne. Molly is impatient to enter the fort, but first an Indian ceremony is completed, and Shagbark cuts the boys’ hair in Seneca style and paints the captives’ faces red. Nicholas, Davy, and Molly are ashamed to look like Indians. Before entering the fort, the group takes in the view of the Ohio River. For a moment, Molly acts on an urge to run away, but she is quickly brought back to the group.

Among the sights and sounds within the fort, Molly is encouraged by the sight of a peach tree in bloom, reminding her of home. The captives are put in a cellar for the night, and Molly tries to keep them from despair. Davy and Nicholas are brought away by a group of Frenchmen. Molly is devastated to lose them; she cries, prays, and eventually falls asleep.

Molly is woken by the sounds of two Indian women in the cellar. Their dress and their mannerisms are unfamiliar to her, and she longs for the familiarity of a white woman. The women seem to be evaluating her and are particularly pleased by her hair. Molly leaves the cellar. Shagbark and the Indian men with him leave in one canoe, and Molly also sets off down the river in a canoe with the women. She realizes that a bargain has been made, and the two women are her new masters.

Chapters 1-3 Analysis

One of the very first things to examine in these chapters is the language and presentation of Indigenous Americans. The term “Indian” to refer to Indigenous Americans has always been incorrect: Early explorers incorrectly assumed they had landed in India. However, in 1941 the term “Indian” was more common than it is today. Lois Lenski uses this term in the title of the novel, and throughout the novel she uses “Indian” to refer to Seneca characters. It is also important to note that, while Lenski completed extensive research to try to present historical Seneca life as accurately as possible, Lenski herself was not of Seneca heritage.

Writing in 1941, Lenski fictionalized the true story of Mary (Molly) Jemison’s life. Jemison was taken captive by Shawnee and French soldiers in 1758, and Lenski sets this historical context in several ways. First, Lenski mentions aspects of the French and Indian War in these chapters and throughout the novel. This war was focused on the Ohio River Valley but was part of a larger struggle for dominance in North America between England and France. The French had alliances with various Indigenous peoples. Molly notices French soldiers among the Indigenous men who attack her home, and she is taken to the French fort along the Ohio River.

In the context of war, English settlers like the Jemisons viewed Indigenous Americans as the enemy. These chapters contain slurs and other prejudiced and cruel references to Indigenous people—they are referred to as, “Injun” and as “the hated, wicked, dangerous Indians” (41), and Thomas Jemison even jokes with Chet Wheelock about scalping (49). These are deeply offensive racial slurs and stereotypes. When Davy, Nicholas and Molly are painted in Seneca fashion, they are disgusted and ashamed. Later in the novel, Molly’s view of Indigenous people changes drastically; in these chapters, however, the author establishes her initially negative perspective.

Lois Lenski also sets the historical setting through her use of colloquialism. In the dialogue, Lenski conveys the settlers’ manner of speech, including grammatical errors and accent. For example, Thomas Jemison says, “Have ye forgot the chores? […] Sun’s got nigh two hours to go ‘fore dark. Reckon that’s time enough for a gal to go a mile and back” (33). Lenski also set the historical context through detailed descriptions of the Jemison homestead (50).

These chapters also develop Molly’s character. She is loved by her parents but frequently scolded for daydreaming; she enjoys working outside rather than inside; she is courageous enough to reach for her father’s gun during the attack and to encourage Davy and Nicholas in their captivity. Her connection to nature is so strong that, the day of her capture, she is struck by “the tender beauty of that fair spring morning” (64). In Fort Duquesne, Molly is drawn to a peach tree. Throughout the novel, nature is a source of comfort for Molly.

An important feature of the narration in these chapters is its shifts in style. Before Molly is captured, Lenski uses foreshadowing to build the tension. Jane Jemison is worried, and her fear adds to a sense of foreboding. When Molly is returning to her home in the morning, after retrieving a horse from Neighbor Dixon’s, her carefree demeanor has changed to nervousness. The forest seems dark and dangerous, and at the sound of a bird’s song, Molly wonders, “Was it a note of warning or a word of comfort?” (47).

During the attack on the Jemisons’ home, the narration reflects Molly’s state of shock. In the moment before the attack, Molly sees her mother moving as if in slow motion. During the attack, stark details stand out to Molly, such as the corn-pone “burnt to a crisp” (54). She also experiences denial, such as when she tells herself that the dead body outside her door “couldn’t be Neighbor Wheelock […] He was far away, safe” (52).

Molly’s farewell with her parents is an important scene for the rest of the novel, and the scene contains long portions of dialogue. Both her mother’s and father’s words of farewell will be repeated in later sections.