Favorite Characters???

What is your favorite character in this book?

Character Development: Samuel Collier

Samuel Collier, a young orphan boy from the streets of London who eventually becomes a serving boy for Captain John Smith, is the main character in this book. His transformation from street urchin to indentured servant to free landholder is indicative of the possiblities available in this New World. Why do you think Elisa Carbone uses Samuel Collier as the main character of the book rather using a more major figure such as Captain John Smith, Reverend Hunt, Pocahontas or Powhattan? What are the advantages of using a boy for this character?

Use of Primary Sources

Documents from Jamestown show that Samuel Collier actually did exist. He did work as a servant for Captain Smith and actually spent a winter with the Powhatan Indians. Documents from the time including journals, published accounts, inventories or ship logs are all referred to as Primary Source documents. From these documents historians are able to discover what actually happened at a certain place and time. They are often considered the best source of historical knowledge. Elisa Carbone uses these documents as the basis of her book (For more information, please refer to the author's notes at the end of the book pp. 226-229). She quotes a primary source at the beginning of each chapter that she then uses to develop her fictional story. What does this bring to the story? Why do you think she does this?

Plot Elements: Class Conflicts

n the book, the English settlers have difficulty living in this New World. Most of the men were selected by The Virginia Company are Gentlemen, landed gentry of a higher class who could contribute funds to the expedition. What Captain Smith needed were more workers who knew how to build and farm. He needed men who weren't afraid to get their hands dirty. ThePowhatan were curious about these men who were starving but did not know how to fish, hunt or plant crops. But the Gentlemen settlers looked down on these skills as beneath their rank and dignity. Very quickly Samuel realizes that the class distinctions that make up 17th century English society do not work in this New World. Why? What problems do these settlers have that stem back to class conflicts? Could this be the basis of "the American Dream"? Go to Jamestown Settlement & Discovery Center website and check out more about what life was like at that time.

The Relation of Pocahontas & Captain John Smith

According to the history books, Pocahontas saved Captain John's Smith's life at the hands of her father, Chief Powhatan. She threw herself in front of the warrior's killing blow given at her father's command. According to Disney, she did this because she had fallen in love with Captain Smith and went on to have a relationship with him. How is the story in this book different? How old is Pocahontas? Is she trying to save Captain Smith's life when she falls in front of the warrior's club? What does this act represent in the relationship between the English settlers and the Powhatan tribe?

Tension between the Settlers and the Powhatans

Why all the tension between the English settlers and the Powhatan tribes? Of course, the English are invading the Powhatan lands, but the Powhatan seem to open to English trade and offer food and assistance to the English. Yet the two sides are continually fighting despite their overtures to friendship. Why? What seems to be getting in the way of a lasting peace? What could they both be learning from each other?

Reliving History

Elisa Carbone tried to recreate Samuel Collier's experiences by camping next to the recreated fort at Jamestown. "The sights and sounds that greeted me at dusk, midnight, and sunrise gave me the feel of what Saumuel Collier must have experienced that May of 1607 when the colonists first landed." (See Author's Note p. 226) What things do you think she experienced camping on the beach at Jamestown were the same and what things do you think were different?