There are definitely differences between Disney's Pocahontas and what actually happened in history but I feel that if all the details had been put into the movie it would have gotten too bogged down and became too long. John Smith was a great influence on the shaping of America. Some of the things that he writes seem a bit far-fetched; such as how he provided most of his men with houses or some type of lodgings but he did not bother to build one for himself. He makes himself out to be very generous to others, and I am sure that he was a generous man but I feel that he makes himself out to be much better than he actually was.
Through the section from the third book, it seems that Smith made the first move to be violent towards the natives. Smith was the one who scared the 'savages' from their homes along the river in order to get supplies for him and his men, which led to the actual assault from the natives. Things could have been more civil had he not tried to steal what the natives had gotten for themselves; he should have thought things through more clearly than to "let fly his muskets, ran his boat on shore; whereat they all fled into the woods" (47). If only things had actually started more peacefully and not resort to scaring or being violent towards a new people.
Far-fetched might be an understatement for Smith; I thought it was almost comical of how he portrayed himself at times. Added with the knowledge that his shipmates wanted to execute him before they even reached the New World only to find out that Smith was their new leader. While I didn't agree with his approach to the Native Americans either, I was impressed with charismatic sales pitch in recruiting people to settle in America. I think that is one trait that the Disney Smith and the real one share.
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