- Published: January 16, 2022
- Updated: January 16, 2022
- University / College: Royal Holloway University of London
- Language: English
- Downloads: 43
There are too many parts In his recordings that do not make sense that lead me to my decision. The accounts of Pocahontas are a major factor that many say make Smiths works not credible. When John Smith was kidnapped by the King of the Photostat Tribe, Pocahontas’ dad, they were about to kill him then and there. Side note: they kidnapped Smith just to kill him instead of ailing him during the battle between Smiths men and the Native Americans.
Why would they spear Smith’s life after they killed all his men? Anyways, right before the King & his men were about to kill him, weapons drawn, this young girl Jumps in and shields Smith from the men. ” Pocahontas with no appeal or petition got his head in her arms and laid her own upon his o save him from death. ” She happened to be the king’s daughter. She was so brave that she risked her own life Just to save a stranger that was an enemy In her father’s eyes. But John Smith does not give us any time of season why Pocahontas did this for him because when Pocahontas covered him they didn’t kill him.
Later in the story he records how after he was released, Pocahontas was providing him withfoodand other things so he wouldn’t starve to death. But yet again Smith doesn’t record why she is doing this for him, making a reader like me suspicious about his credibility. Maybe she had a crush on him but I don’t think they were secretly in love because she was probably too young for him. Throughout Smiths writings in ” A General History’ & his accounts of Pocahontas, e makes mostly everything seem to not be his fault.
He doesn’t tell us or explains to us the wrong decisions he made that lead to his close encounters with death. He makes It seem like he was o innocent. He was proud, arrogant, and boastful, writing in 3rd person about himself, removing himself away from the narrative. He TLD care about the other tribes around his area, stealing food and necessities from them. Even though it was for the good of his own colony or group of people, it still isn’t right to steal from others and sin like that, then go on to write about Religion and how people should go about it in the ” New World. Most likely the other tribes will fight back. I question if Smiths recordings of Pocahontas are real because how can Smith get kidnapped & released all because a girl he never met shielded him. Pocahontas saved him and now he gets to go? Why didn’t the king search for him? It’s funny because Smith refers to the king as a devil and refers to the Native Americans as ” Barbarians. ” How was the King the devil if he spared your life and traded with your colony In the future?
I think Smith was captured then released on a deal that was dad between him and the King, probably a deal to help the Photostat tribe out because Smith was a smart resourceful man. I don’t know why he had to put the Pocahontas story into his recordings instead of just telling the truth, because that accounts of Pocahontas in his 1607 recordings, but he mentions the Photostats. It wasn’t till his 1624 recordings 20+ years later, that he mentions Pocahontas long after she died. So now we don’t have any witnesses or any accounts from Pocahontas about what really happened or if the story is fabricated and never actually appended.
I believeSmiths accounts in ” A description of new England” are credible. He drew maps for future colonies and focused heavily on religion, encouraging people to come to the New World. But I do not think he cared about any of these things. He probably wanted people come to so he could makemoneyby promoting the World, because maybe somebody was paying him. He probably sold the maps he drew to the people he was recruiting to come to the new World. To conclude my paper I tell you again that I do not believe that John Smith was a reducible writer.
If he explained the things that happened in the Photostat tribe more thoroughly, I think I would have a change of mind about his credibility. Why would a young girl who is a stranger to Smith save his life twice for no reason? Why wouldn’t Smith explain why she does these things? The king released Smith and later became friends with him, why? That makes no sense. A normal person would be confused as am while reading this. As I said if one story isn’t believable, it makes me question all his other accounts of what happened.