Upon this past week’s reading I honestly had no clue about John Smiths view or how it too is just a second story. Before this class I never took the time to REALLY listen to the stories told to us as children about when the Americas where “first” discovered I really only remembered Pocahontas however, upon reflection of my childhood i remember some of which was read to me. It is quite refreshing to hear both sides of the story as I learn. However this week while comparing and contrasting John Smiths journal with Pocahontas something really got me intrigued, throughout Johns Smiths journal he would call the native Americans “savages” so I looked up the term on dictionary.com before Lindsay even showed us in class on Tuesday. According to dictionary.com savages means: “1.fierce, ferocious, or cruel; untamed: savage beasts. 2.uncivilized; barbarous: savage tribes. 3.enraged or furiously angry, as a person. 4. unpolished; rude: savage manners. 5.wild or rugged, as country or scenery: savage wilderness.” (dictionary.com) This got me thinking, from what we have learned so far how were the native Americans “savages? Didn’t their kindness pretty much help save the Americans when they couldn’t grow food on their own? “During particularly hard times, when the English were hungry for lack of ability and inclination to grow food, she appeared with a dozen or so helpers bearing large amounts of corn and other edibles.” (pg. 56, Allen) Is it possible for the natives to be kind-hearten despite their uncivilized, barbaric, enraged behavior? Oh wait God made them do that because natives Americans are incapable of being kind on their own. “But the almighty God (by his divine providence) had mollified the hearts of those stern Barbarians with compassion” (Smith, pg 2) God MADE the natives hearts fill with compassion, in this text it also shows an example of how Smith literally called them barbarians and believed it. Smith assumes that the natives are incapable of having kind feelings without God forcing it into their mollified hearts. Why is it that Smith refers to the Indians as savages? Perhaps it is because he views himself as physically better than them, he shows us this over and over again an example of this is shown in this text, “… that used the salvage that was his guide as his shield.” By doing this Smith is openly showing that his life is more important than that of the Indian and that the Indians life is disposable which i find absolutely disgusting no persons life is simply disposable. John may view himself as better than the Indians due to the fact of how the land that he came from is set up, in his eyes they are more civilized however if you really think about it john is no longer part of that world, he is in a totally new land and not to be repetitive but he and his men can’t even grow food to survive on they needed help from the Indians, personally i view Johns actions as those of a close minded person not an explorer and adventurer. While his views of the land may have been open, his views of the people were not. If only John would have taken the time to understand the ways of the natives then he would be less likely to judge them and call them savages. Even the Indians viewed all as equals, “The circle of life reminds us that all things are of equal value.” (Allen) Plus John was the one unsettled and by his thoughtless actions perhaps could be considered an animal, does this make him the savage instead of the Indians, after hearing both sides of the story i can see him being both and my judgmental side wants to call him more of a savage than the natives however there is far more i need to learn before judging, I must roam the earth with an open mind.
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American Literature 2013 
Hey! After I was done reading, I felt your post made a lot of interesting points, but I also have some comments to make. I’m agaist racism, like I hope everyone is, so of course I think it’s wrong and disgusting to place your own life above someone else, but you can’t really blame Smith. At the time, the explorers were probably used to being in charge of people, and slavery was sort of a thing. It’s what you could expect anybody to have acted in Smith’s situation.
I also felt that John Smith was giving a little too much credit to God, in the sense that when the Natives were actually helping the colonists, John Smith gave the credit to God for “mollifying” the hearts of the savages. However, that’s almost more of a personal religious opinion. John Smith was born back before people were really allowed to have freedom of religion, and he was probably born into a Puritan community. It makes sense when the wild savages from the forest start helping you out, you give credit to the one in charge, right?
I can understand why John Smith thought that he was more civilized than the natives, just because of his culture, but I also think that in some ways, John Smith is more of a savage than the Natives. A savage is supposed to be uncivilized, when the Native Americans actually had an extensive functioning society. John Smith was the one who just showed up and started treating all of them like dirt. He’s more savage than the “savages”!
I really liked some of the stuff you had to say, and I like your writing style. And that’s really all I have to say. I guess I’ll see you in class. x)
I like this part: “Is it possible for the natives to be kind-hearted despite their uncivilized, barbaric, enraged behavior? Oh wait, God made them do that because Native Americans are incapable of being kind on their own.” Sarcastic and pays good attention to the texts. Well done.
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