Controlling the Past
One of the quotations on your class policies is by George Orwell, author of 1984. Orwell writes, "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past."
What do you think this quotation means, and how might it inform our discussion from yesterday regarding Disney's romanticized version of Pocahontas? Here's another way of thinking about it: What do power, control, and history have to do our perceptions of Pocahontas and the "discovery" (notice the quotation marks) of America?
How do you think Sherman Alexie would feel about this quotation based on "A Drug Called Tradition"?
As always, defend your response and show me your thinking.
What do you think this quotation means, and how might it inform our discussion from yesterday regarding Disney's romanticized version of Pocahontas? Here's another way of thinking about it: What do power, control, and history have to do our perceptions of Pocahontas and the "discovery" (notice the quotation marks) of America?
How do you think Sherman Alexie would feel about this quotation based on "A Drug Called Tradition"?
As always, defend your response and show me your thinking.
posted by Kristin L | 6:23 PM
23 Comments:
I think if you break this quote into the two separate sentences I think it's easier to analyze.
"Who controls the past controls the future," means to me that if you can influence how people view the past (like how Disney changed our generation's view of Pocahontas through their movie and how they protray her) you can control how people act and think in the future (our generation now views Pocahontas as a beautiful stereotypical Native American).
"Who controls the present controls the past," is similar to the first sentence in the way that people who controlled the past can control the present too (Disney is still making movies, influencing everyone who sees them, and creating stereotypes).
I think Sherman Alexie would find this quote to be pretty accurate, especially in dealing with Native Americans. Almost everything we hear about them is a stereotype, as this quote discusses.
The future depends on the past, so whatever you do later affects what will happen in the future. Pocahontas changed the future by what she did for John Smith. We have taken their story and completely changed it because we like this new romantic version of their story better. This relates to the second part of the quote about controlling the past by controlling the present. We have had the power to change the story of Pocahontas and John Smith just because we live in the future and we have the power to do that.
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I think that this quote means that what happens in the past, effects the future. For example, 911 occurred in the past, and after it happened, things really changed like security, and war. Since the past controls the future, the present controls the past becuase we can alter events and things that happened. The image of Pocahontus today is a very beautiful, connected with nature native american. It is a very stereotypical view of Native Americans. The image many years before the Disney Movie protrayed her as this gorgeous creature, a picture of her showed her as masculine looking, and research says that she was really a short and stocky little girl. We have the power today to not litreally change what happened in the past, but the power to change peoples perceptions and thoughts about what happened by exaggeration, or altering the story.
I think that quote means that whoever controls the past has the ability to control what the future will hold. But whoever controls the present can suppress things that may have happened in the past and make it seem as if certain things happened in the past that didn't and make it seem as tho certain things that did happen did not. I think this relates to the story of pocahontas because the British people controlled the past at that point, and they controlled how the Native Americans would be viewed by the people in the future. They way John Smith, and the other englishmen, wrote about them they seemed like brutes. John
Smith, however, wrote about Pocahontas in a way that would make it seem as if she loved him and that he loved her as well. This is the way we view the two of them today even though it is probably not the way their relationship actually was. Had he written bout her in a way that made her seem the same as all the other indians and not as though they were in love than there would be no story of Pocahontas because it would not be interesting to people.
The quote from george orwell's 1984 is a very powerfull statement. It applies to many of our current stories, such as Pocahontas and A Drug Called Tradition. In a drug called tradition, our past and future are seen as skeletons, uncontrolable beings walking before and after us. Orwells quote contradicts this theory in that it suggests that we are able to control our past and our future. This aplies to our discusion of Pocohantas because it shows that history and the past controls, in many ways, our futures. What if the white man had never come to America? Then they would have never gained any type of "controll" over the native americans, and as far as we know Cinderella, Snow white, and Sleeping Beauty could all be native americans.
I think that the second part of this quote really relates to the discussion of Pocahontas and how she has been romanticized. When someone, or a company, such as Disney is popular and has the influence over people, they can really affect the vision of the past. They changed the real story of Pocahontas and made it more publicly accepted, with a stereotypical vision of Native Americans. By feeding the new, more romantic version of Pocahontas to the public, it changes their idea of the past. Instead of Pocahontas being young, and short, she is older and elegant.
I think that Sherman Alexie would agree with the quotation because of all the references to the past and how it seemed to change the future. For example, when the white people gave the Indians blankets with smallpox it changed the future, almost destroying a race.
This quote means that no matter what the past was, it cannot be changed. In my opinion, although what happened to the Native Americans is quite unfortunate, it would've happened anyway based on cultural ideas then. Our perceptions of Native Americans usually comes from the European point of view. We see Pocahontas as animal like and close to nature, less sophisticated, and even less intelligent. Our perception of the "discovery" of America is also usually in the European point of view. These two "stereotypes", if you will, are probably seen in totally different ways by Native Americans today. The more "powerful" people in history control the perceptions of people in their time and in the future, of what really happened.
Power has a lot to do with our perceptions of Pocahontas, because we view Pocahontas as a powerless Indian girl who need the whites. Also in another light, in class we discussed that Pocahontas was John Smith's savior when he was about to be executed. the Native Americans are potrayed as a lower class compared to the whites, as they are in most movies. Throughout history Indians have been shown as a srong culture with a strong presence, however they are always in need of being saved or rescued by the whites. In John Smith's story the tables kind of turn, Pocahontas becomes a hero.
In the quotation, there is a lot of power being shown. In who controls the past, the future, and the present. There is always power and control in society, its the person who is in charge that changes things.
Power, control, and history all play a role in our perceptions of Pocahontas and the "discovery" of America. In Pocahontas mainly the white people dominated and had some power and control over the Native Americans and what the future was going to be like. Since they landed in America they felt that they had the upper hand and could do whatever they wanted. Disney did do a good job in showing strength in Native Americans, however it seems as if the white males still dominated.
I believe Sherman Alexie would agree with this quote because in the story he talks about how skeletons control the past and future and with that, they help control the present. The quote is saying excatly that.
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Due to the fact that we are unable to ourselves to live history, our perceptions are based on what we have been taught and what we have read over the course of our lives. I am reminded of the quote, "the winner writes the history." Now, in the case of Native American history, much of what we know is from Anglo writing's because Native Americans at this point did not have as sophisticated a system of keeping records. Once again we are confronted with the truth that the pen is mightier than the sword. American history was controlled by those who could most facilely document it.
It is for these reasons that we see the romanticized Pocahontas in the Disney film. Over time, as immigrant Americans passed on the story to their children is gradually grew to mythological proportions with no Native American records to contain it. In addition, this could be a reason that the protagonists in "A Drug Called Tradition" feel lost. Their identities have been so diluted in the water of the ages that they are unable to connect with, without dwelling on, their "skeletons."
I think this quote means that whom ever knows what mistakes were made in the past, from living through the experience, will know how to react in the future in similar circumstances.
Power, control, and history shape our perceptions of Pocahontas and Native Americans because we have been told that the white man is superior to other races and that is shown in many movies and books. In Pocahontas John Smith is drawn as a "typical" white man who is strong and has blonde hair and blue eyes and the Native Americans are drawn wearing moccasins and animal skins for clothes. They move with the forest and blend in with nature. Even though white people are stereo-typed as the stronger race in Pocahontas I think they did a fairly good job of showing the strength, power and beauty of the Native Americans and their culture.
I forgot to address the question of how Sherman Alexie would react if he saw this quote. I think that he would very much agree with it because it is saying that whoever is in control creates the stereotypes and since the Native
Americans have never really been in control they have always been stereotyped badly.
I disagree with Kyle....her only claim to fame was not that she married a high class englishman, she saved John Smith's life. That is a pretty big deal. She risked her own life for his before she even knew him that well. Therefor, she is a hero
I think this quote means a lot of things. I think we are influenced a lot by our pasts and it is hard to forget the past so our past controls the future. We think about the past and it influences our present so in a sense it controls it.
Thinking about this in history our society is dominated by white people. Since we have never been the minority we have a pretty big ego and so when we "discovered" America and there were already Native Americans there, we were disappointed. I think that we have a perception of Pocahontas and her people as being uncivilized because we don't know anything about them which makes them uncivilized and not us.
I think Sherman Alexie would agree with this quote because in his story it talks about nor forgetting the past and the future being just around the corner.
I think this quote is true and that what someone does in the past does effect the future, and the outcomes of future situations. in pocahontas the white settlers are portrayed to be incontrol and take over the indian land. they try to control their environment and therefor control the future. they are preparing the way for future settlements, and disreguarding the indians along the way.
The quote by George Orwell, to me, means that the past, cannot be changed, nor can you avoid what has happened. Things may have happened in the past that have changed lives, but as Sherman Alexie writes in "A Drug Called Tradition", "The past; the future; all of it is wrapped up in the now. That's how it is. We are trapped in the now". In my mind, the quotes are somewhat intertwined. They both show how the past can greatly influence the future, but so does the present. We just have the live in the moment, understanding who we are and where we came from, accepting it and making it the best it can be.
I think that the quote means that the past determines what takes place in the future, and the present's cultures and ideas determine how we view the past. In our culture, we like to find anything with a hint of romance, and expand on it. In almost any movie, including Pocahontas, there is some sort of romance to keep people wondering and interested (even if they don't admit it). I think that power, control, and history have warped our perceptions of Pocahontas and the “discovery” of America. We believe that the white people deserved to have the power to control the Indians. Our perception of how white people came and almost “cleaned” America of opposing cultures has been handed to us by generations, starting with the very first settlers who were more powerful with their guns and therefore able to control the Indians. Now, people don’t have many accounts of the Indians view of the discovery, only that they were in the way of white people’s progress.
In response to Kyle's comment when he calls pocahontas "poco" i think that is part of Sherman Alexie's whole point in "A Drug Called Tradition." That is a very racist name because it would seem like Kyle doesn't even think she is worth enough to write out her whole name as it is.
Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past. No one can actually change the past, but their view of the past can change. Disney romanticizes the Pocahontas story by how it represents Native Americans (and the English). Disney’s version might not be true, but it is well loved by our generation, people now like the fake stories with happy endings rather than true ones.
I think the author of “A Drug called Tradition” would agree with this quotation because the boys can change their future, by recognizing their past.
Having control over the present means having control over the past for two reasons. First, if one has control of the present that means that they were probably in some position of power in the past. So if someone is still in power now then they must have had some control over the past otherwise they wouldn’t be in control of the present. Also, if someone has control over the present, they can change the way history is thought of. For example, a dictator could look at historical records but then tell the population that it was not true and make up whatever he wanted them to believe was the truth. In this way, it is like having control over the past without even having to have been there at the time. In Disney’s Pocahontas, some facts and events were made up to make the story more likable and make young children connect with the characters. This has given kids ideas about Pocahontas that are not true, like the relationship between her and John Smith. Disney, whether meaning to or not, has controlled the past by having control over the young children of the nation.
I believe that Sherman Alexie would feel that Disney’s version of the founding of America and the natives makes it sound like a glorious fairy tale. The natives are somewhat portrayed in a racist manner although not straight out. But I also think that Sherman Alexie would agree with the quote because of true historical events support the quote and its relevance.
An interesting quote: "History is written by the winners."
Certain aspects of American history have been altered to glorify our past. We celebrate Columbus's discovery of America, when in fact Spaniards, Portuguese, and Nordic people first stepped on the shores of North America. The story of Pocahontas has also been altered to paint a rosy picture of the early colonies and settlements. The real story of Pocahontas and John Smith is not as exciting or mesmerizing of the embellished version.
Sherman Alexie combines aspects of the past, present and future to create a surreal setting. Although the modulations from present to past emphasize how the past changes the present, the general mood insinuates that the present can only change the past in dreams.
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