Reading Cristopher Columbus’ journal was both captivating and nauseating all at once. Having never read any direct accounts or descriptions of pre-colonial indigenous communities, I was fascinated by the way Columbus described his first encounter with the “islanders” and must admit that his writing allowed me to imagine the scenario he describes with relative ease. He provides details that paint a picture quite nicely and by describing the specifics of his surroundings, I found the way in which he wrote relatively simple and reader friendly. Unfortunately my praises for Mr.Columbus stop there, and the rest of the text provides reasoning to my pre conceived notions that Cristopher Columbus is not the hero he is often made out to be and should certainly not be seen as such.
While I could pull up more than a dozen quotes highlighting his entitled and typically colonial attitude towards his encounter with the indigenous islanders, I think the following quote encompasses what a man we often glorify really thought. “With fifty men, one could keep the whole population in subjection and make them do whatever one wanted” (Pg. 97) Quite simply, he seeks only to suppress anything of what he explores to acquire more power and sees the indigenous people as nothing more than exploitable objects. Personally, I’m not sure if we can blame Columbus, as I think he is just an an extension of Colonial and imperial ideals in general, but that being said even if he is just an extension one must seriously question everything that has to do with colonialism and its inherent cruelty.
Something that really stood out to me was the fact that this entitlement and power hungry attitude that guided Columbus’ thoughts was present even though the Islanders were quite hospitable. He says that “they gave willingly whatever they had” but this doesn’t change or even make him question his approach at all.
I could go on all day about the sick mentality of Columbus and colonialism in general, but more than anything I think it is important to recognize that he is NOT a hero, regardless of whether he bridged some sort of gap between the “new” and “old” world