Student Question
What is the argument presented by Kirkpatrick Sale in The Conquest of Paradise?
Quick answer:
Kirkpatrick Sale's The Conquest of Paradise argues against the traditional heroic image of Christopher Columbus, presenting him as a flawed figure who misunderstood and mismanaged the Americas. Sale contends that Columbus's journey led to genocide and ecological destruction, driven by European fantasies of a "paradise." The book suggests Columbus's actions resulted in significant tragedy and environmental damage, ultimately destroying the paradise he purportedly discovered.
The main intention of Kirkpatrick Sale's The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy is to dispel some of the major myths of the discovery of the Americas and of the man who did this discovering. While Christopher Columbus is mostly regarded as a courageous, trailblazing hero, Sale gives us insight into a different side of the explorer: a man who was simultaneously at odds with his European peers and a product of their fatalistic thoughts and who ultimately mismanaged and failed to understand the new lands he explored.
Sale postures that Columbus' journey across the Atlantic was responsible for tremendous tragedy, unleashing genocide upon the Native American populations already dwelling in the "New World" as the result of a European thirst for a mythological "paradise." This voyage resulted in great bloodshed, tremendous loss of life, and horrific ecological damage.
Ultimately, Sale suggests that Columbus didn't just discover paradise; rather, he destroyed it.
Get Ahead with eNotes
Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.
Already a member? Log in here.