Pocahontas is widely known as a valiant Native American woman who was the daughter of Chief Powhatan. She is famous for saving the life of the Admiral of England but also modest explorer, John Smith. She is also one of the many people that I admire, and the character in history but mainly Disney movies that I have chosen to write about.
In the first Disney movie that came out in 1995 named Pocahontas, Pocahontas herself was depicted as a mischievous, but gentle young woman who loved to explore her land and herself. She was beautiful, both in real life and in movies; her flowing black hair looked smooth and perfect, and she had an elegant body figure. Her smile was radiant and her voice as tangible as the majestic trees of her land. Her best quality was following her own heart even when it comes to family, or in other words saving John Smith from being executed by her own father in front of the whole tribe. The main reasons
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for choosing her was for the courage she demonstrated and her connection with and love of nature. To start with, I really love this princess because she’s mischievous.
And to be mischievous, you need courage, and Pocahontas had plenty of this attribute. I myself am averagely courageous when it comes to certain circumstances such as stating my own opinion or concocting my own smoothie, but when it comes to real circumstances, even as small as learning how to skateboard or handling schoolwork stress, I fall. So Pocahontas is a woman I especially favor because of her bravery and daring to even stand against her father, the chief of the tribe. Right before he was about to strike his club against John Smith, Pocahontas rushes to his rescue and places her head on his. The chief is surprised, but says, "Daughter, stand back." Even when he had called her his daughter, she still didn't back out, and her friends, family, and best friend were all watching this take place. She replies by saying "I won't," loud and clear as crystal. This defiance eventually resulted in peace and understanding between everyone, and an accomplishment for Pocahontas
herself. Possessing a wide, pretty smile is another reason why I would love to be Pocahontas. Of course, her long, shiny hair and graceful, slender figure are also qualities anyone would want, but I chose her smile because of a symbolic reason. For me, smiles are the prettiest because they represent laughter, joy and love. Smiles mean that someone is enjoying themselves along with the people around them. They symbolize the laughter that escapes from one’s mouth, with an aura of happiness. The most important thing though that radiant smiles mean to me is love. I believe that love is the basis for good feelings toward people. When someone close to you smiles, you get this feeling that makes you want to smile back, and not the forced smile either. Pocahontas’ smile is very gorgeous, reminding me of light, joy, life and love. Perfect Pocahontas could be her nickname. She radiates joy, life and most of all love with a smile stunning enough to dazzle the bulbs of football field lights. Smiles bring goodness to people’s faces, even on the roughest days. She also owned a courageous attitude toward life itself, risking her own for someone she barely met. It had shown her brave trust in someone who came on a ship full of foreign weapons, exploring her own sacred land. Her persona represents a gentle peace in all. She only wants what’s best for everyone, and demonstrates this by keeping her heart strong and her attitude as bright as the sun.
The main plot of the film focuses on the relationship between John Smith, Pocahontas and John Rolfe. The film was a romantic film and had a lot of romantic scenes that were probably not portrayed in actual historical events. For example, the two main characters in the film were of course John Smith and Pocahontas, and there were many scenes in the movie that implied their romantic relationship. Scenes, such as when the two are connecting with one another, spending time together and learning about each other mostly through touch and sign language, after Pocahontas had saved John Smith from execution. In these few scenes each character narrates and discusses their idea on love and expressing their feelings on one another. Although, entertaining, John Smith and Pocahontas weren’t actually romantically involved with each other as the film portrays in these few scenes. It is uncertain what the relationship John Smith and Pocahontas actually had. Most likely, it was a beneficial relationship between the two, since there was a lot of trading between the Native American tribes and the colonists. (Read, 2005)
Indian women had played roles in the beginning of American history. The two famous women were La Malinche and Pocahontas. Both of them were not educated, that’s why their stories were written by others. Bernal Diaz, Spanish conquistador and Cortez’s companion, wrote about Malinche. Whereas, John Smith, English soldier wrote about Pocahontas. Malinche played the role of translator, advisor and lover of Cortez, while, Pocahontas played the role of peacemaker. There are also some contradictions in Smith writings about Pocahontas saving his life. Malinche and Pocahontas made the link between colonist and native population, they married to Europeans; but Malinche was from South America (Mexico) and she had contacted with the Spanish, whereas, Pocahontas lived in North America (Virginia) and related to English. Both of them very intelligent women, Malinche had the skill of speaking multicultural languages and Pocahontas was the peace creator between Indians and English.
To conclude with “The General History of Virginia” and Disney’s version of Pocahontas, the two stories had two different opinions and views. Although, Disney’s portrayal of Pocahontas was perceived as an offense to the Native Americans, no one really knows the actual events that took place during that time. People will continue to think that John Smith’s version was a bit hysterical, while the Native Americans will take the Disney movie Pocahontas to an offense. John Smith and Disney both gave their own versions of their story. Others will continue to do the same.
Pocantahs is problem the most famous American Indian woman ever. She was the daughter of Wahunsenacah. The most important Powhatan Indian was Chief Powhatan. His real name was Wahunsonacah. Chief Powhatan was his title as the leader of the Powhatan Confederacy. Chief Powhatan was actually more like a European king than a traditional Algonquian chief.
Pocahontas was the daughter of Chief Powhatan which made her an Indian Princess. When she was 12 years old, she saved a colonist named John Smith from being clubbed to death. After this, the relationship between the colonist and the Indians were at peace. Captain Smith sent many presents to Powhatan and the Indian woman gave food to the colonist. When John Smith left Jamestown because of a gunpowder accident, the peace between the Indians and the colonist weaken. In 1612, Governor Thomas Dale ordered for Pocahontas to be kidnapped, held for ransom that would be paid in corn by Chief Powhatan. While she was held captive, Pocahontas was baptized Christian and given the name Rebecca. Also while she was imprisoned, Pocahontas fell in love with John Rolfe, who then asked for her hand in marriage. Sir Thomas Dale and Chief Powhatan gave their consent and they got married in Jamestown on April, 1613. This marriage brought peace between the English and the Indians for many years. On 1615, John and Pocahontas had a child named Thomas. Pocahontas became the center of English society’s attention. She had then become Lady Rebecca Rolfe. Before going back to Virginia, Pocahontas became sick. She died on March, 1617, at the age of 21 in England. She was buried in the chapel of the parish church in Gravesend. Rolfe returned to Virginia, where he manufactured tobacco. I liked Pocahontas because she was the kind of person who was willing to do new things and she did the right thing even if no one would agree with her. She is famous for her actions (even if Disney exaggerated them) and I admire her strength and courage to stand up for what she believed in.
The General History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles by John Smith, portrays the enormous troubles the settlers were faced with by the Native Americans. He explains how he was captured by Indians and also saved by a young Native American girl, Pocahontas. He vividly describes the ceremonies and rituals of the Natives performed before his execution. However, the execution never occurred due to the tremendous mercy showed by the king’s daughter who blanketed John Smith’s body her own. Pocahontas went on to persuade the Native Americans to help the settlers by giving them food and other necessities. Despite her efforts to reach peaceful grounds, her people were still bitter and planned an attacks on the colony. Nevertheless, Pocahontas saved them once again by warning the settlers of attacks. Pocahontas went on to marry an Englishman and traveled to England. She resembled the prosperity and good that was to be found in an untamed land.
Kilpatrick contends that Disney was ineffective in developing the essence of Pocahontas and was solely concerned with creating a visually stimulating, condensed, romanticized film. “Pocahontas was a real woman who lived during the pivotal time of first contact,” according to Kilpatrick. The film took historical figures and created fictional characters by turning an adolescent girl into a mature, sexualized woman, a mercenary into a “blonde Adonis” and evil villains out of English settlers. Kilpatrick’s
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Pocahontas is Disney’s 33rd animated movie, which takes place in early 17th century Virginia. The movie is based around Pocahontas, a Native American who is the daughter of Chief Powhatan of the Powhatan Tribe located in the New World. When British settlers of the Virginia Company, including Governor Ratcliffe and John Smith, make landfall in the New World looking for gold, they encounter the Powhatan Tribe when they start building Jamestown and excavating for the precious metal. While the rest of the crew builds Jamestown at the order of Governor Ratcliffe, John Smith starts exploring the wilderness, where he meets Pocahontas. The two of them bond and quickly fall in love with each other, even though Chief Powhatan gave his daughter strict orders to stay away from the Englishmen after a few tribesman, including Kocoum, the Native American warrior Pocahontas is set to marry, gets in a fight with a group of settlers. Word gets around to Kocoum that Pocahontas is spending time with John Smith, and goes to confro...
The Disney movies of Pocahontas tell a plot of a Native ¬American tribe and English colonists that fight for the land the Native Americans live on though war ultimately creating moderate peace. While keeping to their own sect, the imbalance of power between the two social groups is prevalent throughout much of the story. Walt Disney’s Pocahontas is more than a classic children’s movie. It is a thoughtful, well contrived narration that portrays a message that in order to fit in, you must be a certain race and born into a specific culture. Disney’s Pocahontas suggesting that the color of our skin shouldn’t matter when being accepted into social groups as well as the idea that arranged marriage should be rejected. Thus, treating people right could ultimately have a positive outcome and lastly, the film also suggests that family roles change without a mother figure.
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