Montaigne Response Essay Example for Free

Montaigne Response EssayIt is no secret Europeans cede allowed not exclusively new lands, but their neighbors on the Continent too, by lying and deceit since the days of Ancient Rome. Montaigne remarked on how better bred sort of men, i.e. the Europeans, are more curious and discover more than their uncivilized counterparts in the rude(a) World. Because of their superior breeding, this essentially allowed them to lie and explain things in order to positively affect them. Montaigne remarked on how when meeting a plain ignorant fellow of the New World, he appeared more likely to recite the truth, solely because he was uncivilized in the eyes of the Europeans. As he puts it, the Europeans cannot help but emasculate the story, never representing things how they are, but how they appeared to them.To contrast this, the Cannibal is just a simple, ignorant fellow, who tells things exactly as they are without sieveing any facts or evidence. He is not cap equal of changing the st ory to suit his needs. That concept oddly stood out to me because it made me realize that the smarter, more educated, and arguably more civilized someone is, the better they are with words and the more likely they are to alter a story for personal gain. The primitive peoples of the New World were not capable of the high level deception and treachery the Europeans were. That is not to say that they were not capable of being just as cruel to their fellow man as the Europeans were, but as Montaigne puts it, lying, treachery, dissimulation, avarice, envy, detraction, pardon they were unfamiliar concepts to the Cannibals.One question that transcends time is why some nations or peoples were able to conquer and subject others. There are many theories and arguments to answer this but I am going to obtain the case that it is because some can deceive and others cannot. For example, white fur traders in the early 1800s were able to nonplus Native Americans addicted to whiskey, often diluted , and flavored with tobacco juice. Still, it had its desired effect and it left many tribes clamoring for more. in one case the Native Americans inherent weakness for whiskey was known, fur traders and land speculators used the firewater to obtain Indian lands and furs. What is the field of this glimpse from the past?The same words Michel de Montaigne used to describe what his Europeans colleagues were capable of lying, treachery, dissimulation, avarice, envy, detraction and pardon. It seems to be a common theme when one people are taking over another. The concept of European high quality in the 16th century was no doubt reinforced by the magnificent art and refinement that was blossoming during the Renaissance. Besides the Orient, the world was unknown, undiscovered and above all, not Christian.The Popes of the time were all too smart to commission expeditions to baptize the New World. The themes of avarice, treachery and cruelty are not exclusive to Europe, however the Europea ns were able to export it on a global scale. These themes exist all over the world in every country, they are human traits, but it was the Europeans who left the Continent to conquer and kill, for God, Gold, and Glory. Cunning though they may have been, Montaigne hit the nail on the head when he remarked on Europeans ability to distort the facts and to deceive the lesser peoples of the New World.