Christopher Columbus portrays himself throughout the Journal as an optimistic and ambitious man in seek of the Island of Samoet, where the “Indians” claim the gold is at. His whole journey sole-purpose relies on finding the gold and the Great Khan. However, he is misled throughout his whole journey due to the lack of knowledge about the tribe´s he comes across, the geography of the various locations he travels through, and the cultural barriers that exist between them; such as language and cultural beliefs.

Columbus can also be interpreted as an innocent and optimistic individual that is obsessed with wanting to please the King, as evident through the “exciting” descriptions that he gives about the local people and natural landscapes that he has encountered. However, the constant language and cultural barriers make it tough for Christopher Columbus and his crew to get on the right track to find the Great Khan and the gold.

In my opinion, Christopher Columbus had been misled the whole time without him realizing it. In fact, he never showed any certainty and even acknowledged how the cultural differences and the language barriers made is astonishingly hard for him to understand anything, except through the use of sign language. On the other hand, by being enthusiastic and generous to the locals, he was able to gain their trust, with which he could have converted the “Indians” into Christians which was also part of their plan.

The expedition was not so successful in terms of what the goal was;  which was to find the gold and deliver the Great Khans message to the Lord. It did nonetheless; make it possible for them to discover Latin America, which was very important for both the establishment of their colonies and the wealth of the Spaniards, even though he thought he was travelling through the Indies during the whole expedition.