8. Compare Philbrick’s portrayals of natives in Mayflower with the ways in which they have been represented in popular culture, for instance, in Hollywood movies. How does Mayflower encourage us to rethink those representations? On the other hand, are there some popular images of Native Americans that seem to be somewhat rooted in what actually happened in the seventeenth century?
The Mayflower encourages us to think in a manner that is more oriented towards actual history. This book descibes in blatant detail every fault and failing of the Pilgrims as well as every success, helping us into the mindset that these were once people extraordinarily ordinary in all aspects expect for the fact that they did what no one had done before. For example, the picture I get of a Pilgrim is one of nice, shiny shoes, a funky hat, and Sunday's best. The Mayflower tells me that, though extremely religious (hence the reason for the whole voyage), these people were barely scraping a living, probably totally filthy (except Sundays because of that tradition started by the Pilgrim women) and hard-working. Big difference..
On the other hand, Native Americans are portrayed fairly accurately according to my prior thoughts. Though maybe not as friendly as I imagined, they did make a fairly steady alliance with the Pilgrims, yet remained slightly mysterious and wary of the newcomers. The fact that they pretty much saved the Pilgrims is another commonality that my Indians share with history's.
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