Journals of Discovery- Pocahontas

John Smith and Pocahontas

     This is a picture of Pocahontas quite literally saving Captain John Smith's life. There is much dispute about whether or not Pocahontas actually saved Smith's life or if he is exaggerating this portion of his story as many people agree he does many times throughout his journal. In all reality, Smith had very good reason to make himself look like a hero. He needed to convince his superiors that he did indeed save the colony mostly by himself as to not be punished for letting so many die in his settlement. 

     Another way to look at this picture is that Pocahontas is portrayed symbolically. The artist may have been merely symbolizing the fact that Pocahontas saved the colony from sure destruction by the hand of her father, who had been warned that white men would rule over him. John Smith would be used to symbolize the colony as a whole then, as Pocahontas saves him, she saves the colony in the artists eyes.  

     There are a couple of other things that could be not accurate about this picture. One, is that Pocahontas has been proven to have only been around 10 when she "saved" Smith, not the 20 years old as she is portrayed in this picture. The last is that it shows the the Native American's homes as tee-pees while we have learned in class that they had more stable homes in their villages and only used tee-pees while hunting or something of the sorts.