I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of the previous readings that we have been assigned in this class, but I did not enjoy reading The Four Voyages. I do tend to appreciate factual information more than entertaining stories in regards to books, but that is only when I enjoy the subject that I’m reading about. History is not one of my main interests, and this collection of anecdotes did not interest me very much. But I do of course understand how important the events are that are discussed in the book. Without Columbus’ conquering having occurred, the world we’re accustomed to would be completely different. I always find the “butterfly effect” very interesting when it comes to historical events. If certain events in our history happened even slightly differently, our entire world could be completely different than it is. If Columbus did not end up sailing towards the Americas, and made it to East India like he originally intended to, I wonder who would have been the man that took Columbus’ place as the person who would have brought European traditions to the natives in America. It was bound to happen eventually, not that it is correct in any way though.

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella told Columbus to win over the inhabitants, but to ensure that he does not cause them any harm or injury. These words clearly went in one ear and out the other, because Columbus was far from treating the natives with the respect that they deserved. Instead of attempting to assimilate with the native peoples, Columbus and his men went the violent route and treated them inhumanely in order to gain riches and to spread Christianity as best as they could.

After hearing about Columbus as a hero my whole life, it was interesting reading a more detailed and factual account of his voyages. Columbus has his own holiday dedicated to him even though in retrospect, his actions likely do not warrant a day of celebration in his honor. It may be that I am not that interested in history, or that I’m just not particularly interested in the story of Christopher Columbus, but this was not one of my favorite readings so far. Looking forward to discussing in class with everyone!

Well… one thing I can say for certain about Columbus…. his log entries are boring… I think the captain’s log entries in Star Trek were far more interesting.  I have to admit though, my expectations were set too high for this particular reading.  I expected something rather fun, dynamic, full of history and information.  What I got was a well… a log, and a few letters of a controversial figure, all of which was historical, but required much interpretation and not a lot of dynamic.  There were some parts of it that were fun to read though, (surprisingly).

The first part of the 4 Voyages that I had to read through was the digest of the captain’s log.  This account by an unknown member of Columbus’s crew was written from a surprisingly aloof 3rd party perspective.  Admittedly, he tended to side with Columbus, but the way he explained things from a more neutral point of view allowed me to accept the information without much hassle and bother of questioning every word he was writing.  As I began reading the digest, there was quite a bit of information, that gave the appearance of mundane, but wasn’t so mundane after all.  Soon I found myself noticing every symbol of land, every threat of mutiny, while I knew they would get there, I couldn’t help but wonder what was life like on that fateful voyage across the seas, clinging on mere hopes.  It’s no wonder Columbus, when he finally sighted land, was overjoyed.  I was also taken aback by the scale of what Columbus was describing.  Latin America for the first time and yet, he seemed or tried to keep an open view, not calling the natives barbarians (which was what I expected him to do) and although he later descended into slavery, his first foray into the caribbean was almost like a child wandering through a lush forest.

Then came the denial… when he began to realize and wonder if he had made it to Asia.  This I found rather hilarious thanks to my hindsight information, but then again, I had to pity Columbus.  He sailed all the way across the Atlantic, hoping to find a route to Asia and make it big with Castille, only to find he had stumbled across something entirely new.  If only he had a satellite and GPS!

The letters for me, were the hardest.  Everything that Columbus wrote about how he conducted himself and about he situation, I was forced to think and doubt.  After all, the letters were defending his position.  He sounded quite convincing and it wasn’t easy.  In the end, I managed to take everything at face value, yet still manage to understand Columbus’s defense.

In the end, I didn’t enjoy reading the 4 voyages as a whole.  My ideal explorer is something more like the characters in Star Trek.  But there were some fun tidbits and juicy information that I learnt about this interesting early explorer and the challenges he faced on his voyage.

Signing out

Vincent

I’ve had little experience with reading this type of literature, the journal/letter style, though I find it very interesting. Mostly because I do enjoy history, and so find first hand accounts of things intriguing. Still, the closest thing I have to compare this to would be a collection of letters from Toussaint L’Ouverture that I read this past year for an assignment on the Haitian Revolution. And that’s still a few centuries after Columbus, meaning this was a fairly unique read to me. Not to mention that reading something as a “primary source” versus as literature has a slightly different feel.

I’ll admit, I felt fairly judgmental as I read this. At every turn I was looking down on Columbus as he wrote back to Spain of his exploits. The way he talked as if he was so incredibly respective of the people he encountered, then casually mentioning that he ‘seized some natives” for information. I suppose that’s not an ideal mindset to read The Four Voyages with though, not that I know entirely what that would be. But I guess I should try to think of things more from his perspective? Imagine the mindset of the time and all. I’m never sure what place modern perspectives have when reading old texts. Should I try to read objectively, or just let go and allow my views to alter my reading of the text? Anyway, on the topic of wondering at Columbus’ mindset, I couldn’t help but laugh a little to myself at all his exaggerations. He was very desperate to seem successful of course, and so resorted to spinning propaganda, essentially. If I were to highlight every line involving gold or converting natives to christianity, I would have a fairly colourful copy of The Four Voyages. His sponsors had clear reasons for funding his voyages of course, so he would cater to their interests. He makes himself out to be quite the conqueror.

I wonder what a discussion of monsters will be like in the context of this text. How will we define a monster this time? On a side note, I find our various definitions of monsters very interesting, and really like that each text merits a new definition and understanding of the term. I’m always tempted, with each of our texts, to just throw my hands up and call everybody and everything monstrous.

So, I’m not the world’s biggest history buff. When reading a text, my mind is automatically drawn to the symbolic, figurative aspects of the work, and I rarely regard the reality of it. However, with The Four Voyages, I found that I needed to break free of this quest for metaphor, and adopt a more practical way of looking at the work. I can’t argue the alliteration or allegory, as Columbus did not intend for these letters and logs to be read in such a manner. This aspect challenged me.

However, I actually enjoyed reading this work. I was immediately drawn to Columbus’ irony. He keeps talking about how every one of these places he visits is more beautiful than the last, due to their native, unaltered state. However, that’s exactly what he wants to change. He wants to alter not only the landscape, but the lives of the peoples. Yes, he does believe that bringing Christianity to the natives will save them from damnation, but in reality, his whole quest is to abuse and reap the benefits of their homeland. No wonder he ended up becoming so hated.

Secondly, he was so damn whiny. In one particular letter, all he said was just how terrible his lot in life was. Well, unfortunately for him, it’s a direct correlation between fate and his treatment of other individuals. However, it is necessary to view things from his perspective. Maybe he really wasn’t trying to play the victim, and firmly thought that his ordeal was unjust.

Finally, the obsession with gold. It’s rather astonishing to see just how enthralled society is with this shiny substance. This love of the metallic extends even into our modern society, but is rather seen as capitalist profit. Humans love to put such immense value on ridiculously pointless things. Does gold actually help society in anyway? No, it cannot save lives or provide any necessity, just as money itself is completely pointless. This correlation between Columbus’ society and our modern one was very fascinating, as it demonstrates a certain characteristic of humanity. We place so much value on the intangible, but for what? In my opinion, its merely a matter of pride. Nowadays, it is a necessity, but I believe that it originates from a want to possess beauty (in the beauty of gold) that later developed into a means of survival via currency.

All in all, Columbus’ writings were a definite change from the classic idea of literature that we’ve been engrossed with, and proved an interesting and eye-opening reading.

I don’t like reading history. The reason—because reading it is basically nothing more than studying the entire, mostly boring existence of people you most likely don’t care about anyway. Now, I’m well aware that a lot of not boring history is out there (and people you would actually care about), but a small speck of gold does little to brighten a dreary pile of coal. With that said, Christopher Columbus is rated quite high on the list of historical figures I don’t care about. In fact, seeing some books on him was one of the main reasons I passed on the other Arts One group, which I suppose was a futile attempt as I still have to read him in this group. But who knows; maybe this compilation of letters is actually interesting? Maybe I’ve been missing out on the wonders of history all this time? Maybe the tale of Admiral Columbus taking his ships, going out to semi-unexplored lands, and subjugating Indians is in fact a great epic story of fascinating discovery and amazement? Maybe reading a hundred pages of his Excellency whining about how awful his life is, how selfless he is, and how subjugating Indians is a great rehabilitation method is actually a hundred pages of deep, philosophical text? Yeah…no; it was pretty boring overall. I can’t deny that I went into it with biased (and fully realized) standards, so maybe I’m just not reading it properly. Of course, this text does its job as a historical record—it shows us the viewpoint of Columbus and his questionable mental state at all stages of his journey, giving us insight into his thoughts and emotions at the time. It also shows us…no, that’s about it. Since these are letters written solely from Columbus’ point of view, we really can’t believe anything that he says. He obviously left out many crucial and potentially damning events that he may or may not have incited, and he quite overbearing tries to victimize himself whilst antagonizing everyone and everything that is against him. He is playing suck-up to the majesties throughout, and as such wouldn’t tell them anything he doesn’t think they need to know. Personally, the most irritating thing about this book for me was the incessant need to tie god to everything. Even the footnotes contained crosses or double-crosses, and the people who compiled this book are also clearly Christian. Not that I have anything against Christianity in general, but objectivity was clearly the least of anyone’s worries in the creation of this book. It certainly does reflect the historical context, but this leads to my other major problem with history—it is, and always will be, biased. The record of “objective” events will always be recorded by a subjective writer, and thus, nothing read in a history book should ever be taken as is. There is always another side.

Value. That’s what I found the most interesting about this book. Although i’ve always had this fairly basic idea of the contrast between the new world explorers and the natives of the new world, this book is so full of the concept of value, and questions concerning value that you could, y’know, write an essay on it or something. When Columbus gets to the new world he is surprised to find that the natives are willing to hand over something that could be worth a lot of money in exchange for trinkets. Why is he surprised? Different systems assign different values in whatever way they please: worth is completely relative. I know this is no revelation, but to see it (read it) in action was fascinating. One asks which system is more ridiculous, monetary value in small gold coins or monetary value in things that are ornamental, or, useful. But it really has nothing to do with which is more ridiculous because  it’s entirely based on perception.

When it comes to Columbus and his view of the natives his values get even more convoluted. He values these natives for their use to him and their ability to be converted to Christianity. But like the rest of the book there is and undercurrent of idealism. In this case it is concerning monsters. Columbus writes “I have not found the human monsters we expected” which is great, but I got the feeling that in many ways Columbus wanted to find monsters, or wanted the local people to be monsters. It would add to the romance, the adventurism of his story. In this expedition he really wanted something foreign and different, and in a way no hostilities at the beginning may have come across as a bit of a letdown. When Columbus and his sailors meet the Caribs, the cannibals, the letters really play up their atrociousness and their monstrosity, writing about all the horrendous things they do and such. I think these types of things were largely written for the comfortable white “audience” that waited in Spain, so they could say “Ooh look at that, there’s monsters over there, how foreign and romantic.”

The funny thing is that not much has changed. Humans still like to see those who are actually very similar to them as monsters and something non-human. It makes it easier to control them, kill them, or other nasty things. That’s how wars start.

Columbus himself reminded me greatly of Medea. He’s smooth talking in a whiny sort of way, and his letters are like a phsycological study of human self justification. Again, it comes back to value. “Value me” says Columbus. “Value what i’ve done” Hmm.

There was line about one island that spoke of native people with tails. It is never spoke of again. What the heck! I want to here more about that.

Oh yes, and God is still here, shaping peoples destinies and such. I’m starting to think this guys is more trouble than he’s worth.

Sam