Taking Words Out of Her Mouth
By Jamey Gallagher, with comments by Ed Gallagher, Margaret Watters, James Speese, Alexandra Neumann, and Krystal Kaai
[1] This scene of The New World is interesting for at least two reasons: one, it portrays what is one of the most fully developed scenes that we have in the historical record, and, two, it ignores much of what Pocahontas allegedly said during her last meeting with John Smith and replaces her words with other, somewhat more ambiguous words.
[2] First of all, I’d like to show how this scene does and does not conform to the historical record. When Smith actually met Pocahontas in London many years after “the rescue,†he claimed that at first she would not talk to him and turned her back. When she finally did speak, she referred to him as “father.†When he asked her why, she replied: “'Were you not afraid to come into my father's Countrie, and cause feare in him and all of his people and feare you here I should call you father: I tell you I will, and you shall call mee childe, and so I will be for ever and ever your Countrieman."
[3] This is one of the only times in the historical record that Pocahontas is given a voice, that she actually speaks. Her voice is strong and somewhat defiant. She is no wilting flower in the ruins of an adolescent love affair. Instead, she is someone who has been wronged, in some capacity. In the historical record, Pocahontas also talks about how Smith’s countrymen lied to her, telling her that Smith had drowned. (This is part of the story to which the movie is faithful.)
[4] Instead of these bold statements -- questioning the veracity of Englishmen and asserting her right to call Smith whatever she wants -- in the representation of this event in The New World we have very little dialogue from Pocahontas. She is shown as turning her back on Smith and being somewhat defiant, but the defiance is expressed far more by her looks than by her words. The most significant difference between the scene and the historical record is what Pocahontas does not say.
[5] And in the words that are put into Pocahontas’s mouth, this scene contains what is, for me, the most perplexing line in The New World. Smith asks Pocahontas: “You saw the promise in me, didn’t you?†(2:03:32) With a simple "Yes," Pocahontas accedes that she did, in fact, see the promise in Smith. What I don’t understand is what this “promise†is supposed to represent. Whose promise is it? What does promise mean in Pocahontas’s mind, and how are we supposed to understand “promise"?
[6] To get at the real answer to that question, I think we have to examine one of the main themes of the movie. Like every other filmed representation of the Pocahontas and Smith story, this version buys into the (historically unproven) romantic aspect of the relationship. “The New World†that the title refers to is at least in part the “new world†of love.
[7] But whereas the other films present the romance in bald, simplistic terms, this movie values the full complexity of love. Never in the movie do Smith and Pocahontas truly know each other. The mystery of their different viewpoints is always apparent, as is clear from the voiceovers. “Who is this man?†Pocahontas asks again and again. The recognition of love is slow and imperfect. Smith even claims “I have made her love me.†Their love is troubled and confused and muddled, just as love so often is in the real world.
[8] Their love affair also fails for complex reasons. By leaving Jamestown to explore New England, Smith chooses ambition, the “promise†of finding the Indies, over his love for Pocahontas. During this scene of their last meeting, Pocahontas ultimately rejects Smith, even though she thought that he was the man she had truly “married.†Nothing is easy or simple in the world of love.
[9] So, again, I would like to come back to this notion of “promise.†In Smith’s world, and in Western culture in general, that promise would have to do with big achievements, with ambition, with searching for the Indies, etc. But, assimilated as Pocahontas might be, she doesn’t seem to share this Western viewpoint. She herself is not ambitious, which can be seen in the fact that she didn’t seek an audience with the King and Queen; it simply happened. She never asked to see England; she was simply brought there. She doesn’t want to marry Rolfe, but, after being ostracized by her people, she can see no better option. Pocahontas simply can not see promise as the ambition of “great men.†(comment by Alexandra Neumann)
[10] So one way of reading the “promise†mentioned in this scene is to consider it not the promise of finding the Indies or doing “great things†but the promise of turning native and becoming wild. After Pocahontas saves Smith, there is a long section of the movie that involves Smith’s half-conversion to native ways. He becomes comfortable with the native men and in another elegiac voiceover considers their village a perfect utopia, with no guile or greed. When he returns to Jamestown he considers that part of his life “a dream,†but the possibility of turning native, of becoming truly wild, seems both desirable and within reach. He had promise, but once he returns to Jamestown, he loses it. His physical Indies are a pale imitation of the true, wild, psychological Indies he could have had with Pocahontas. (comment by Alexandra Neumann) (comment by Krystal Kaai) (see comment by Margaret Watters)
[11] In this scene, we can tell that Smith is a fallen figure because of his tentativeness. He speaks haltingly and nervously, until he mentions their “time in the woodsâ€: “I thought it was a dream, what we knew in the forest. It’s the only truth†(2:04:35). She consoles him by saying that he will, in fact, find his Indies, but that is small consolation for poor Smith. He has lost his Indies, and his promise is all used up.
[12] In this way, and because of the fact that Pocahontas’s words were taken directly out of her mouth, this scene becomes more about Smith and his failure than about Pocahontas and her desires. After this scene, Pocahontas returns to John Rolfe, to stability and domesticity, to her husband and child. If Pocahontas had been allowed to keep her historical words, to deliver her indictment of Smith’s countrymen, maybe her choice would have seemed less fraught and therefore less complex. Maybe the filmmakers felt the need to take the words out of Pocahontas’s mouth to allow her to seem more real. (comment by Ed Gallagher) (comment by Jim Speese)
Comments
Aargh! Jamey, I wish you hadn't taken me back to this scene. Complexity. I think the dialogue is too complex for me. Or elliptical. I don't get it. A tip o' the hat for your reading of the "promise" section, tho. I agree that your reading probably is the way the section must be read, but, I dunno, "You knew . . . I had promise" just doesn't seem to me to be the way one would say "You knew I had great potential for beginning again as native." And, I dunno, he always looked and sounded to me like a work-in-progress, so I'm not sure I really feel the basis for her yes. And then where does her question about finding the Indies come from? Is that an attempt to wring some sort of sign of defeat out of him? If so, why the "you shall" -- she in the driver's seat now? And how about that Mona Lisa smile throughout the scene? What's up with that? I dunno, tho I get the overall drift of the scene, the details often seem too mysterious for me.
I found your scene analysis very interesting, Jamey. For my reading of the "promise," see my issue essay. But, in short, I read this scene as a discussion between generations (now and then). In other words, Pocahontas represents Malick's view of what could have been has Smith followed through on his ideals. So, I sort of read Pocahontas as representing Malick himself, and Smith asking us (and Malick) if we see what could have been. Pocahontas's long pause before she says "yes" is interesting in this regard as well; there is respect, but also some great opportunity terribly lost.
This perception of Pocahontas not being ambitious is true only in regards to Western reasoning. If we perceive her character through the context of the film alone, we are able to witness the development of her character. If we break down the word ambitious, we can gather other meanings -- enthusiastic, determined, aspiring, and motivated. By saving Smith's life, she has already proven to us that she has the capability to be all of these things. She not only defies the majority ruling to kill Smith, but she also appeals to her father on his behalf. Her father recognizes that his daughter will have the opportunity to learn about Smith's world. Pocahontas takes on this task wholeheartedly and quickly learns English. Her final scene with Smith seems to give us a good sense of her own development. She realizes that this "promise" has been broken and moves forward with her own life by embracing her husband and her son. Although she does not meet the traditional concept of ambition, she does have a strong impulse to live.
I understand where you are coming from in your assumption that the word "promise" is related to Western idealism, but I honestly believe that this word is more complicated. On a personal level, this promise was one that Smith and Pocahontas had made to each other out of love. The film focuses a great deal of energy allowing viewers to watch this relationship develop. If you buy into their intimate connection or not, you cannot disregard its presence. Looking back on this scene, I almost feel as if this is the obvious answer. However, as I said, defining the promise is more complex. I almost feel as if you're not giving Malick enough credit. Perhaps the premise of this promise lies within what Smith refers to as his "dream." I almost feel as if the words "promise" and "dream" can be used interchangeably. The connection between Pocahontas and Smith was one that epitomized the merging of the two distinctly different cultures.
Jamey, although I agree with you that Pocahontas probably does not envision Western notions of ambition, self-aggrandizement, and grandeur when she reflects upon Smith’s “promise,†I find it difficult to believe that she imagines “promise†to be the exact opposite of these Western ideals -- a complete reversion to what you call “native†and “wild†ways. Because a significant section of the film focuses on “Smith’s half-conversion to native ways†-- a cultural conversion in which he adopts the native culture as his own and lives blissfully in their unadulterated Eden -- I understand why you would interpret Smith’s “promise†as his potential to convert fully to native ways. Nevertheless, I do not believe that Pocahontas expected Smith to completely convert to her native way of life any more than Smith expected Pocahontas to wholly adopt his Western culture; instead, I believe the “promise†Pocahontas envisions is the potential for the two cultures to coexist peacefully and harmoniously -- to form a “New World,†a hybrid world, different from the old worlds of their respective cultures.
Rather than embrace the idyllic life that could have been had he quelled his ambitious desires and stayed with Pocahontas in the New World, however, Smith both emotionally and physically distances himself from Pocahontas -- from his ethereal dream world -- and in so doing, destroys any hope of uniting their two cultures. Although one may argue that the Native Americans and Western colonists were too different to coexist and intermingle in an amicable way, Malick crafts the relationship between Smith and Pocahontas in such a way that encourages viewers to think otherwise.
As the cultural and political ambassadors of their respective people, Smith and Pocahontas bear the potential, the “promise,†to bridge the gap between their two civilizations. But rather than assume the role of cultural negotiator and peacekeeper by cultivating his relationship with Pocahontas, Smith abandons her in pursuit of his own greed and ambition. The interactions between Pocahontas and Smith, thus, come to symbolize the broken relationship between the native people and the colonists -- people who, at one point in time, had the promise to live and thrive together peacefully, yet lost that opportunity as the colonists pursued their own selfish interests and disavowed their relationship with the native people, just as Smith did with Pocahontas.
“Wild†holds a negative connotation that I believe the natives in The New World do not warrant. Instead, I would describe their society as one that is not constrained by severe structure, unlike the English culture. A better term would be “natural.†I think, at first, what Smith desires is to work with nature, as the natives do, rather than force nature to conform to man’s will. That part of Smith’s life was “a dream†because he did not feel in control of his surroundings. Burgoyne writes of the Englishmen: “Deforming the landscape with borders and fortifications, denuding the land around them of all trees and grasses, burning the Indians out of their villages in order to plant tobacco, the settlers degrade the ecology of forest and marshland.†The deformation of the landscape is most evident when Pocahantas ventures to England along with Opechancanough. There is a scene in which Opechananough walks through an English garden and with every step he stares at the topiaries and acutely trimmed grass as if it were abhorrent. To the American natives, this control over the Earth is not beautiful, but horrifying. Eventually, Smith is faced with a decision between natural and unnatural, between being one with the Earth and conquering the Earth. Though he may consider life with the natives, he chooses Jamestown and English society because there is something more comfortable in asserting his dominance over the world rather than accepting the world as it is and existing in the native’s natural way.
