The Pocahontas Dilemma Essay Example

Pondering about the evolving image of Pocahontas, there seems to be drastically different points of view on the popularized Native American. Pocahontas’ name has been tarnished and used for gratification in order to paint a false narrative throughout the years. Pocahontas is not just a Native American mentioned in history books but a symbol for quite a lot of things actually. Mentioned throughout popular media and culture throughout the world. Her story is repeated again and again throughout time, though there is only one true way to interpret her story. Humans will continue to bring up their own perspective and ideas over how Pocahontas lived. As long as someone's story is beneficial to a person they will transform it into anything they want if it means they will get money, recognition, or some sort of fame from it.

The colonial imperialists that wished to conquer the tribes and colonize them had no clue what was going on at the time. Yet history seems to be filled with stories involving white colonizers taking over cultures and slaughtering everyone in their path in order to get what they want. More and more, they will continue to do these vile deeds until they finally are able to get everything they wished for. Pocahontas was sadly a victim of this, some say she was swept up by her lover, others say she was forced. White colonization has influenced the image of Pocahontas by turning her into something that a man needed to save. “..Pocahontas, the King’s dearest daughter, when no entreaty could prevail, got his head in her arms and laid her own upon his to save him from death.”(General History of Virginia).  During the time when these individuals were alive they had the false notion that women always needed to be saved or helped, while Pocahontas was perfectly safe and a strong woman who actually ended up helping John Smith. Though most people fail to appreciate the fact this was the truth, since the world was much more misogynistic back then and women were oppressed the idea of having a woman save you was looked down upon massively. Contributing to the future evolution of Pocahontas and her story leading her down the path of where she and her story is now. 

Stereotypically, the white man is supposed to be a “savior” and a “colonizer”, someone that conquers and takes over. Whether this is with religion, land, or people themselves. Pocahontas was not always as “white-washed” as shown in the famous painting “Pocahontas, Simon Van De Passe, 1616”. Converted to the ways of Christianity, her originality and uniqueness gone. Solely transformed into a puppet, being controlled by the white people surrounding her. Even her own husband influenced her, trying to get rid of those qualities that made her unique. While transferring to Christanity and European lifestyle she was confined to a life that was not hers, only faking a life and a culture that she did not fully understand. Pocahontas’ story is solely looked at and popularized by the eyes of the white man, never her own people. Language barriers make it difficult to ever truly understand what she said or meant during some of the most historical moments during their time period. Looking at Pocahontas is like looking at a broken glass lens, little reflections of all different angles, different stereotypes, stories, perspectives. Though you are never able to see the full picture. You get tales and stories from the view of a white man, though you never actually see how her own people might feel about her story. Being stripped of her identity and being left to fend for herself as a Native American living in a “white man's world”. There never is a rebuttal from someone of actual indiginous descent, nobody ever portrays Pocahontas and her story in the realistic manner from her point of view, solely what people want to see. “And how many times did I pluck you from certain death in the wilderness—my world through which you stumbled as though blind?” (Paula Gunn Allen 4-7). Pocahontas was the one who did not need saving but was the one that was always doing said saving. 

Media-makers seem to represent Pocahontas in whatever way benefits their 

agenda. Whether it is making her out to seem like a defenseless young girl who needed saving from the tribe of savages to become a Christian that is graced and “educated” by the white man. Or exhibiting a vicious woman that needed to be “saved”. Regardless there is a notion that people actually really know the story of Pocahontas, though in reality there is no true way to truly verify which story is true. Unless she publicly disclosed what she was thinking at the time, there is no genuine way to know exactly how her mentality was. Writers, artists, film-makers, see her story as a way to profit from her experiences, whether they are fabricated or not. They put a spin on the original narrative in order to benefit the media they plan on making. Regarding the media definition of Pocahontas and her story, a good example of this is the General History, with an extensive list of information of Pocahontas and an inaccurate description of her as a person because of the issue with a language barrier as well as an egotistical colonizer. “I spoke little, '' you said. And you listened less.” (Paula 31-32). Being a woman, and being a minority seems to make it so nobody listens to you or your story, instead they twist it up and use it as a means to benefit themselves for profit. A good example of this issue is Disney, not just with Pocahontas but with any major female in history. Disney’s Pocahontas movie is a rough example of misrepresentation of female and minority historical figures. The stereotypical trope that Native Americans are connected to the land and that the girl needs to be a beautiful, dazzling, educational person that is always holding the main character's hand and guiding him while teaching him about morals is a bit ridiculous. The evolving image of Pocahontas is the image that slowly turns whiter and whiter and more modern as time passes. 

To illustrate a person's point of view, the story of Pocahontas is used quite a bit. Though like any story, her image changes, changes, and changes until it perfectly fits the idea that the person is going for. To regular people Pocahontas is not a human being, she's an idea. An idea of perspective, nobody will genuinely understand Pocahontas as though she was a real person, her image and story will be twisted again and again until it's able to fit the narrative of the person addressing her. That's just how it is with people you cannot speak to face to face. The evolution of Pocahontas is a messy one, though it is not just one. Its hundreds, thousands, of micro-stories originated from her and her journey. The Pocahontas Dilemma, an original story that gets twisted for the enjoyment and pleasure of others. A cash crop of sorts. Not being able to have a proper end, always being reinforced and changed. Pocahontas is an idea, an idea that anyone can take for their own ideas.