Smith: The First True American Dreamer
By Anne Rodriguez, with comments by Zachary Carter and Kelley Higgins
[1] Throughout the film The New World, the main characters voice their inner thoughts through voice-overs. The voice-overs are important because they help the plot along and show the complexities of each character in this first-contact situation. John Smith’s early voice-overs set up the justification for colonization and the beginning of America through the ideals he strives to achieve.
[2] Smith’s first voice-over at 11:50 introduces the pleasure he has from being in America. At first, it seems as if he is homesick. He begins, “How many lands behind me? How many seas?†He is so far away from home that he might feel alone and disconnected from reality. The camera shows an Indian man curiously examining the English fort. Everything -- the land, the people -- is so new here to Smith that he must feel out of place and not at home. Instead, he flips the expectation upside-down: “What blows and dangers? Fortune ever my friend.†By coming to America, he has escaped dangers. “Fortune†has two meanings here. He is fortunate in his travels; he has luckily made it to America. Fortune also alludes to the possibility of striking it rich that so colored the colonists’ minds, although Smith does not seem as money-hungry as the others. At the end of the voice-over, he is seen by himself, wandering through the fields -- his expression curious and calm. He is separate from the other colonists, but America’s vast resources and possibilities and beauty are not lost to him, as is apparent in his next voice-over. His fortune is of a different kind than just gold.
[3] Smith’s second early voice-over beginning in 16:33 is the most significant; it illustrates Smith’s complexity as a lonely leader and his dreams for America. He is alone with his thoughts on a boat, and he reflects on his inner drive: “Who are you, whom I so faintly hear? Who urge me ever on?†Something, whether it is divine or otherwise, is pushing him to expand his life. It is mirrored in the camera scene, where the audience is moving slowly forward through a body of water, along the vast coast of America. Interestingly, Smith’s voice-over is interrupted by a reflection of Captain Newport: “You have the makings of a leader, Smith. Can one rely on you?†Newport is pushing Smith into the traditional leadership role, where he will be above the other colonists and they must listen to him, as is done in England. Ironically, as Smith resumes his voice-over, the inner voice he hears seems to be pushing him toward a different leadership, one in which he would guide his peers into a new and equal societal relationship that could lead to something greater than traditional English ways.
[4] Smith resumes his voice-over with “What voice is this that speaks within me, guides me towards the best?†The beauty and wealth of America are apparent as he speaks these words, and he and his crew are moving toward that beauty. He then introduces his dreams for America, where the colonists can “make a new start, a fresh beginning.†After surveying the vast and beautiful land, he realizes that there are enough resources for everyone, that a little hard work will pay plenty and that “none need grow poor.†His ideas are a social critique and imply his dissatisfaction with England’s social and economic structure. He wants to begin fresh, with no poor and no upper class, so that they can “build a true commonwealth, hard work and self reliance our virtues.†The camera shot of all of the men working together in the boat mirrors Smith’s words. These ideas seem to have originated from the real John Smith, who propagandized New England in these words:
I assure my selfe there are who delight extreamly in vaine pleasure, that take much more paines in England, to enioy it, then I should doe here [New England] to gaine wealth sufficient: and yet I thinke they should not haue halfe such sweet content: for, our pleasure here is still gaines; in England charges and losse. Heer nature and liberty affords vs that freely, which in England we want, or it costeth vs dearely. (John Smith, A Description of New England, 1616)
America is so pure that happiness, freedom, and wealth flow easily to those who put in a little effort. The film almost identically reflects Smith’s idea that “when better, or at least as good ground may be had, and cost nothing but labour; it seems strange to me, any such should there grow poore. . . . Here by their labour may liue exceedingly well†(John Smith, A Description of New England, 1616). The film character and the historical Smith merge here as a man ready to start something new and improved.
[5] Through his ideals, the film suggests that Smith originated the American Dream, where everyone has the opportunity for success if the work is put in. (comment by Zachary Carter) According to Smith, the colonists (some, maybe not all) had the potential to escape the economic injustices in England and to create a way of living that satisfied all. They would begin an ideal society, one whose goodness justified the colonial takeovers of Indian land. Smith picks up his voice-over: “None shall eat carelessly what his friends got worthily or steal away that which virtue has stored up. Men shall not make each other their spoil.†He feels that a new and improved economic structure can bring about much-needed camaraderie among Englishmen. Ironically, however, the camera hints at just the opposite: the other colonists are stealing some Indian food and belongings while Smith is curiously observing his surroundings. The camera shot suggests that either the Indians are not truly or fully “men†(much like African-Americans were thought to be less than a human), or that the other colonists do not share Smith’s ideals. He is alone in his endeavors, a sole dreamer. Smith’s American Dream consists of a new land that gives opportunity for a just economic structure that will promote better moral ideals (hard work and self-reliance) and better relationships.
[6] Smith’s third important voice-over occurs a little later at 32:32, after he is captured and living with the Powhatan tribe. He has had time to experience their way of life, and it reflects on his earlier American dream. He describes the Indians as “gentle, loving, faithful, lacking in all guile and trickery. The words denoting lying, deceit, greed, envy, slander, and forgiveness have never been heard. They have no jealousy, no sense of possession.†The camera shows Smith playing with -- even kissing -- a baby, a symbol of the Indians denoting innocence. Then the camera moves to an Indian happily giving Smith valuable shells and other Indians examining Smith in friendship. Smith has already fallen in love with Pocahontas, and she is shown smiling throughout the scene. Then follows the most important statement: “Real, what I thought a dream.†The America he has imagined already exists, in the Indians and in Pocahontas especially. The Indians have a just and equal economic system, and their social structure is based on the morality Smith wants to achieve. They are happy, loving, and passionate, which is summed up in their dance that is shown here. At this point, Smith realizes that he does not have to create a new society; he can live with the Indians and realize his dream quickly. Or he can feel invigorated by this society and take its ideals back to the English colonists. The important thing is that he’s not alone in his thoughts and dreams. They can and should be made into reality.
[7] Smith’s fourth voice-over of importance happens toward the middle of the film at 57:33, but it reflects on his earlier ideas and dreams. He has fallen in love with Pocahontas and has been separated from her, forced into his position of leadership in the collapsing colony. He considers that the “fort is not the world. The river leads back there. It leads onward too. Deeper. Into the wild. Start over. Exchange this false life for a true one. Give up the name of Smith.†He has returned to the colony but has not implemented any of his ideals. The colony is desolate, while the camera here shows the beauty of America’s nature. The camera moves up the river at sunset, showing that the beauty of Smith and Pocahontas can exist in the beauty of nature. The true reality of his life with Pocahontas has been replaced with the lonely and bleak false reality of the colony. He again dreams of starting over. This time he seems to realize that he must sacrifice his English ties to live how he wants, freely and morally, with the people he loves.
[8] The film The New World develops the first-contact situation between the English and the Indians, especially between John Smith and Pocahontas, through reflections of the realities and the ideals of life for the two main characters. Smith’s first voice-over presents Smith’s contentment and excitement with his new life in America. His second voice-over introduces his dreams for beginning an American commonwealth with his peers. In his third voice-over, Smith realizes the he is not alone in his dreams and that his America already exists in Pocahontas and the rest of the Indians. After being forced to return to English life at the fort, Smith’s fourth voice-over illustrates his desire to go back to the happiness and love he felt with Pocahontas and her people, and he realizes he will never that happy as an Englishman. Smith’s early voice-overs embody him as the first true American, one who struggles to improve the injustice and misery of English life through a new beginning and applicable ideals of camaraderie, hard work, morality, and love. (see comment by Kelley Higgins)
Comments
Anne, your essay is called the first true American Dreamer, but I doubt that John Smith was truly of the ideals of the American dream. The American dream is the idea that people can succeed through hard work and lead happy and successful lives. Although this does seem to be what Smith hopes for, I only think this inner monologue was used as a means of allowing the audience to understand how Smith could bond, could so come to love a Native American. He had be a very open-minded man and love the nature that America had to offer. Although he recognizes that men will not have to starve and there will be plenty for all, I would say his quotes reveal more of hope for a communistic, utopian society. He thinks everyone can live together in camaraderie and says, "Men shall not make each other their spoil." I do not think it is a crazy notion to think that this could be the beginnings for the American dream, but that connotes moving out west and making opportunities and seeing if the "grass is greener." In this situation John Smith seems to be dreaming of a utopian paradise that is possible with the resources available to them.
Carter finds fault with Smith as the American dreamer. The fault that I find in Rodriguez's argument is that Smith may not deserve the title of a true dreamer at all. What bothers me is Smith’s lack of persistence in realizing his dream for “a new start, a fresh beginning.†When Pocahontas offers to run away and live with him so that they can create a new life together, he questions her and doubts where they would live. Pocahontas provides Smith with the opportunity that he is said to be looking for, yet he declines. The film depicts him as a weak dreamer who walks away easily and is fearful in his encounter with obstacles. It is especially because of the emergence of John Rolfe and the transformation of the land that unravels -- “plowed fields, fenced plots, domesticated animals†-- in his presence that convinces the audience that Rolfe may deserve the title of "dreamer" and even “American dreamer†more than Smith.
In addition, and perhaps more importantly, I have a hard time completely agreeing with Rodriguez’s analysis of the voice-overs as capturing the American dream because the voice-overs seem to serve a more general purpose in the film. I would argue that the primary role of the voice-overs, as Burgoyne emphasizes in his “Columbian Exchange†article, is to contrast the depressing images of the struggling colony by verbally highlighting the exploratory and captivated responses of each culture in respect to their interaction with the other. That is, the purpose of the voice-overs is to draw the audience in and reduce the distance gap between the 1607 colonization of Jamestown and today.
Thus, the voice-overs serve to emphasize and articulate the sparkle in one’s eye in feeling the excitement and the wonder in experiencing and learning something new. This is true when it comes to anything unfamiliar, whether it is a new love relationship or witnessing a natural environment different from anything you’ve seen before. Though not necessary in film because of the facial expressions if close attention is paid, the voice-overs put into words the unstated feelings to say aloud what the audience is likely thinking in their heads and to reassure the viewer that although hundreds of years have past, they too can empathize with these characters.
An example of how the voice-overs serve this purpose can be seen at 32:32 when Smith is captured by Pocahontas's tribe. The idea of being held captive would seem to be a frustrating and depressing experience; however, we see Smith playfully interacting with the Indians and hear his thoughts of them as being "gentle, loving, faithful, lacking in guile and trickery . . . They have no jealousy, no sense of possession." His voice-over serves to diminish the time-gap between his first-hand experience and our viewing, centuries later, by enabling our perspectives to sync with his emotions. The background music is slow and peaceful, which invites the audience to see the Indians in another light, as Smith did. The use of Smith’s voice-over then emphasizes this subtlety in their way of life and contrasts how the Indians are initially viewed as wild and savage-like. We are able to appreciate the uniqueness of their culture and feel the curiosity and fascination that Smith did in discovering something new.
