Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 2002. Vol. 8. Eger Journal of American Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 28)

Studies - András Tarnóc: Violence as Cultural Projection: The Sociological, Psychological, and Epistemological Implications of the Jamestown Massacre

prove himself and demonstrate his capability as a warrior. In fact, masterminding the attack provided ample proof for his mettle as a military leader and his capability as a strategic planner. The sheer brutality of the attackers is demonstrated by the murder of Master George Thorp as he was not simply killed but his corpse was "abused with such spight and scorne...unfitting to be heard with civill eares" (Smith 295). In this case not only the Indians' rejection of the settlers' religious conversion efforts is discernible, but a repressed anger as well leading to an open dismissal of the settlers' treatment of the Native Americans as children. Thorp exercised physical, spiritual, and sexual control over the natives as he was able to punish them for misbehavior, yet "never denied them any thing," (Smith 295) if they complied. Furthermore, the religious conversion effort attempted to superimpose a new framework of belief over Indian spirituality, and Smith's remark that Thorp "would have had all the rest guelt, to make them milder" (Smith 295) suggests a degree of sexual control as well. Thorp also built a house for the King, that is Opitchipan, in fact superimposing European housing patterns over Native American ones. The mutilation of Thorp's body represents a total rejection of this benevolent father figure. Whereas the "circular stimulation" originates from Opechancanaugh, a person committed to fight the English intruders throughout his life, Blumer (1934), and LeBon's (1896) concept of the irrational and instinctual behavior of crowds (in Brinkerhoff-White 557) cannot properly describe the events of 1622. On the other hand, the attack resulted from precise planning and careful weighing of one's options enabling the contagion theory to offer only a partial explanation. The convergence theory's assertion that crowds are made up by like-minded individuals "selectively drawn" (Brinkerhoff-White 558) towards an objective further highlights the significance of the synchronized timing and simultaneous execution of the attack plans. The previously mentioned common set of predispositions entailed the hatred of English settlers, and the desire for revenge. Having applied the resource mobilization theory to the events, in case of the Jamestown Massacre the resources in question are faith, land, and culture. The Jamestown Massacre appears to meet the requirements of a violent social movement as well, that is it was indeed "an ongoing 251