Historian J. A. Leo Lemay suggests of the scene during which Pocahontas saves Smith’s life that “Smith was being ritualistically killed. Reborn, he was adopted into the tribe, with Pocahontas as his sponsor. But Smith, of course, did not realise [sic] the nature of the initiation ceremony” (52). How would this information change your reading of the scene?
What do you notice about the differing artistic portrayals of the colonizers, the Native Americans, and the English nobility in the following images from The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles? How do they relate to Smith's corresponding text?
http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/smith/title.html
http://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/smith/ill1.html
I think Smith, being quite self-consious about his legacy, is trying to make a formidable opponent out of the chief. However, while relishing in his ego, he fails to see the dichotomy between his presentation of a barbarian and the native's eloquent leader.
ReplyDeleteThis, to me, adds speculation to Smith's accounts and points to another aspect of his vanity. The answer to the question, then, could be both: he wants the natives to appear primal and devilish, yet he does not want to be portrayed as merely a hunter of beasts, but rather the golden-crowned conquerer, tamer of a savage but complex people.
-Ocean
The way Smith wrote about his negotiations supports the opinion I formed of Powhatan, I believe his intents were of innocent decent when compared to Smith's. Throughout their discourse, it seemed as if Powhatan was merely making a simple request which Smith should have understood. It makes sense that an indigenous tribe that is used to only bows and arrows would feel intimidated and fearful when forced to befriend and give items to a strange "white tribe" that owns guns. When Smith portrays his own misunderstanding of Powhatan's requests, Smith does the exact opposite of dehumanizing the Native Americans. Rather, he dehumanizes himself.
ReplyDeleteThe way in which Smith portrayed the Native Americans in the pictures were almost comedic.They almost resembled cupid-like figures, besides the fact that the pictures were obviously depicting grown men in comparison to babies. The Natives seem to be in mid-dance and unclothed which suggests a primitive and backward way of living. It seems as if there is a man (possibly a colonizer) that the Indians are actually holding captive and threatening to kill, this leads me to believe that this picture was depicting Smith's almost beheading. Compared to the Indians, the colonizers are dressed, but they don't seem to be in any position of power.