Pocahontas

4 Pages 1062 Words

This Land is My Land
“They’re not like you and me, which means they must be evil, we must sound the drums of war!’(Pocahontas) . This quote resembles how one can judge a person(s) solely by what is on the outside. The Europeans viewed the Native Americans physically when they first came to the New World. The clashing of civilizations is prominent in the movie “Pocahontas” and can also be seen in the play The Tempest, written by William Shakespeare. Both these works deal clearly with the disputes and portray the struggle efficiently.
In “Pocahontas” the clash of civilizations is foreshadowed in the very beginning when they show the purity of the land and the love of the land that the Native Americans have. While on the ship in the storm all that is talked about is how the Europeans are going to be rich and find an abundance of gold. The Indians lived a peaceful life and also one that was very simple. John Smith and the rest of the colonizers however, felt that the Natives did not use their land properly and that there is so much more that they can do with the land. The Europeans were only interested in the land and as said by Richard Haklutt the purpose of the voyage was to “plant the Christian religion, to traffic, to conquer…” (Haklutt 129) . They were engrossed with the idea that the new land had many riches and was theirs for the taking. This is also said in the movie in the beginning when the sailors say “for glory, god, and gold” (Pocahontas) . The Europeans were not aware of what truly was at the new place. When they finally arrived and went on shore to dig and search for anything that would benefit them they were stunned. There was nothing there for them to take. The clash began instantly because of the clear difference in view. “You think you own whatever land you land on, the Earth is just a dead thing you can claim, but I know every rock and tree and creature, has a life, has a spirit...