In Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford we see that the struggle to survive and the thrive to complete their mission has many obstacles. In the Plymouth plantation the issue of survival is discussed through the hardships and struggles the Puritans had to overcome. For example, in this story, we will see the issues they faced from the prosecution from the church, lack of food, attacks from Indians, harsh winters and being away from people. They went onto the mayflower thinking they were going to have a wonderful life and beautiful discoveries. Little did they know that they were sailing in the pit of their misery.
The impact of god can be seen in Of Plymouth Plantation, because that is all the Puritans believed in. The Puritans overcame many obstacles because they believed that it was god who was helping them. In the quote, "Being thus arrived in good harbor, and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries there of, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth..." This quote shows how the puritans looked up to god to overcome all the things they went through. People believed that everything that happened was because god wanted it that way. Since they based everything off of god, it made it easier for the puritans to accept everything that happened to them. According to the puritans, god affected everyone in many ways. The Puritans making it to Cape Harbor safely after the horrible storm was the first time that they believed god was helping them get through the tough situations.
A key idea in the story is when John Howland was thrown overboard and he survived. "..but it pleased God that he caught hold of the topsail halyards which hung overboard and ran out at length." This is significant because since the puritans believed everything happened because god wanted it to happen, in this case, John Howland survived because that is what god wanted. Howland thought that since he grabbed the rope, god wanted him to survive therefore, that made god happy. This is why Howland became very religious and god was one of the reason why this happened.
Later on, we discover that when everyone was sick and the sailors did not help at all, William Bradford stated, "..if they die, let them die..." Meaning, if people died they should be left that way because god wanted them to die. They were not worthy of living in gods land because god did not want them to continue in it. That is why god wanted them to die and that is why they were left for dead. The ones who took care of the sick were safe and unharmed because god saved them. The sailors that were selfish and did not take care of the sick became sick themselves and eventually died. It was believed that anyone who helped the ones in need would get blessings from god. The puritans believed that god was their savior and he would keep them safe.
Of Plymouth Plantation clearly illustrates that everything that happened to people was because god wanted it that way. As identified earlier, believing in god will save you from harmful situations. John Howland grabbing the rope because that is they way god wanted things is one example of how god was everything to the Puritans. Another example is when everyone was sick and the sailors did not help, they ended up dieing. They were selfish and did not help the people that helped them when they were sick. After this happened the puritans believed that since they were selfish, god was punishing them for their selfish acts. The puritans went through several challenges on land and sea but their faith towards god remained the same. While reading about the puritans you can see that all the obstacles they faced and how god was involved in everything that happened to them leads to us having the "American dream."
