The section from The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles reads a bit like an epic tale of heroism, especially when he's pitted one against 200 or 300 natives (who was counting anyway?), shot full of arrows, and using his guide as a shield. It makes it all a little hard to swallow as full truth. Apparently, Smith stepped in and saved the day every time the colony was on the brink of destruction, all out of duty and with humility. Example: "himself always bearing the greatest task for his own share, so that in short time he provided most of them lodgings, neglecting any for himself." (pg. 46) Furthermore, every time Smith leaves the colony to its own devices, he seems to return to utter chaos. "...they were all in combustion, the strongest preparing once more to run away...Smith forced now the third time to stay or sink." (pg 53). Darn colonists. You can't get captured by natives and let them out of your sight even for a minute.One would think Captain Smith single-handedly saved New England.
I found the random references to God interesting. The seem almost obligatory, and are generally connected to the natives acting in kindness, as if there is no explanation for their mercy other than divine interference. The text oscillates between describing natives as being child-like (pacified by toys and trinkets and in awe of Smith) and creatures of hell (using words like devil, hellish, barbarous, fiends etc.). The natives are painted as nearly worshipping Smith, seeking him for healing and feeding him all he could want, and then they apparantly try to "beat out his brains", but Pocahontas comes to the rescue out of adoration for Smith (at least Disney got something right).There was a definite lack of cross-cultural understanding.
While I found the John Smith worship comical at best, I thought the writing was well-worded, expressive, and persuasive. I particularly appreciate the line "If we were free from all sins as gluttony and drunkenness we might have been canonized for saints..." (pg. 45). The selection from The Fourth Book has fantastic language. It paints the life of one who stays in England as dull, lazy, and lacking all opportunity while, in contrast, one would have to be comotose to not make a profit in the Americas. It certainly uses a tone of adventure and freedom to persuade colonization.
I literally "lol"ed while reading your thoughts on John Smith's writing. I definitely agree that his writings about God almost seemed obligatory, like no one would listen to him unless he put some faith aspects in there. Haha, and seriously who was counting the natives in that battle?? I think John was really into himself, or pretended to be!
ReplyDelete