role as a woman is highlighted occurs when her young child is sick and eventually succumbs to illness. She depicts herself as a fully devoted mother, in line with expectations for women, and particularly Christian mothers, at the time. However, when she sees a Native American woman lose a child, Rowlandson does not dwell on the mourning process and seems even to feel that her own grief is deeper and proves that she is a better mother. Eventually, Rowlandson gains freedom by being ransomed in exchange for money and goods. She is treated as an object of barter and as property, as many women were considered at the time as belonging to their husbands or fathers.

Despite Rowlandson's treatment as a property, she does not hold the literal position as another human's possession in quite the same way Wheatley does. There is no doubt that both women endured trauma at the hands of their captors/owners; however, Wheatley's race becomes an additional factor in her oppression. Despite her bondage, though, Wheatley writes appreciatively about God and the blessings in her life. In her famous poem "On Being Brought from Africa to America," she describes how moving to the American colonies enlightened her to Christianity and the love of God, taking her from her "Pagan land." Even though Wheatley's poetry could be considered conservative in the sense that she does seem to openly celebrate the faith of her enslavers and to feel genuinely grateful for the influence of religion in her life, some lines are subversive in their treatment of racial attitudes. For example, the aforementioned poem ends with these lines:

Some view our sable race with scornful eye, "Their colour is a diabolic die." Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain, May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.