Most Anglo-American visors of Pocahontas view her as an Indian maiden who helped redeem Captain John Smith from certain death and died tragically at a young age after marrying the man who would be creditworthy for the commercialization of tobacco, John Rolfe. Because of this largely mythologic and shortchanging account of Pocahontas' life, Allen provides us with a essential American positioning to more fully understand the prodigious gifts and square up this Powhatan had on both her own people and the English. Allen's (Front Matter) narrative is reflective of this account, as she adopts a "random, almost chaotic system of narrative" that uses rhetorical devices that be distinctly Native American such as repetition, humor and shifting points of view. In so doing, Allen provides us wit
Allen, Paula G. Pocahontas. San Francisco, CA: Harper, 2003.
In this story of Pocahontas we are treated to a Native American young cleaning lady who served as a spy on the Jamestown colony, whose dream-visions provide appreciation into the coming onslaught of colonists for Native Americans, and who eventually helped John Rolfe commercialize tobacco. In addition, Pocahontas allegedly helped saved Captain John Smith, essentially a profiteer, from certain death after his capture by the Powhatan and she would act as a bridge between both distinct cultures, her own and that of the Anglo-Americans and English. As Allen (Front Matter) tells us, Pocahontas represented "the living conformation of this dual cultural transformation," as each culture influenced the otherwise in significant ways.
h an account of Pocahontas that avoids the dominant influence of mainstream culture in favor of an approach that is more Native American.
Allen's book focuses on Pocahontas as the focal point of the story, and takes assiduity to demonstrate her role as a shaman-priestess following her dream-vision. Allen (p. 81) maintains that Pocahontas was much different than the barely pubescent girl of Anglo-American biographies or accounts of her life, but was instead "by birth, vision, training, and circumstance the agent of change." In Allen's account of Pocahontas, we are treated to a powerful shaman-priestess whose dream-visions spell the attack destruction of the Native American people by the Anglo-American colonists. However, in following her dream-vision, Pocahontas is able to exert enormous influence as an agent of change both for her own people and the English. As Allen (p. 28) writes, "Pocahontas had been direct to the proper hobbomak, a natural sacred structure, by her manito her sacred medicine power, her connection to the Great Spirits that coach her spiritual path. She would have gone at the direction of the Council of Women, responsible for teaching and guiding her along with the dir
Ordercustompaper.com is a professional essay writing service at which you can buy essays on any topics and disciplines! All custom essays are written by professional writers!
No comments:
Post a Comment