Columbus Reading Response

What usually happens when someone makes a mistake? They usually feel embarasses, learn from their mistakes, and move on, right? This was not the case, howeve, for Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus made the most celebrated mistake in history. His mistake made him famous, while our mistakes simply get us laughed at. Columbus has been written about and studied countless times, however, every person has a different take on him and his adventures. In this particular article, the author seems to believe Columbus’s achievement was not so impressive. But how does he show that? He shows what he thinks of Columbus through the use of diction and syntax.
One way authors show their feelings towards ther subject is by using syntax. The way an author presents information tells the reader what the author thinks about what they are writing. This author only uses bad things or things that set Columbus back in his journey to explain him. By this negativity it is clear to the reader how the author feels. The author thinks Columbus is a joke and his achievements, if they even are achievements, should not be acknowledged. For example, the author points out when Columbus was put under arrest and his troubles at that time. The author very specifically picks this information to share in order to show how Columbus could get himself into a mess a trouble like the best of us. But there are other techniques the author uses to show his point.
Another way the author shows his feelings towards Columbus is through his use of diction. There are certain words the author uses to belittle Columbus. Certain groupings of words around explanations of things he did help show that the author thinks of him as an unresponsible person. He says things like “in rebellion against his authority”, “at the expense of” , and “this discovery fell into such a disorder” (Christopher Columbus 1452-1506). The reader can clearly see that the author thinks Columbus an incapable leader and has no right leading a group of people. It is also clear that the reader not only thinks the “discovery” is not accurate, but also that it caused catastrophe and perhaps things would have been better had Columbus just stayed in Europe. This is how the author shows the reader how they feel.
The athor of this article clearly does not appreciate Columbus’s efforts. He thinks Columbus was not a fit leader and just caused bad things to happen. This person obviously is one of those people who does not celebrate Columbus day. However, this is only one author’s opinion. There are, of course, many others out there who think Columbus was a guy to be respected. His mistake will probably still be celebrated many years from now. I guess we can learn something from Columbus. We should take pride in our mistakes because they may turn out to still be talked about centuries later.