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Ignorance of Important Priorities

 

            "" These words, familiar to every American, officially commenced the war on Iraq. In doing so, however, President Bush ignored protests from the public, as well as the lack of an actual imminent threat to the U.S., in order to achieve his goal of prestige. Even now, as more and more soldiers are killed daily, Bush refuses to acknowledge the public dissatisfaction, instead attempting to locate Saddam and the acclaim that will accompany the finding. A similar situation plays out in a number literary works, including Macbeth, where Macbeth is brutally slain as a result of his oversights. However, in today's world, with the advent of important projects with close deadlines, this is more than just a literary idea: it is life.
             In Chesapeake, a rare peaceful Indian-colonist relationship is between Pentaquod, an Indian chief, and Edmund Steed, a British settler. "[Pentaquod] had not expected any white man to be as congenial as the one who settled in Devon Island,"" and, although the relationship was not perfect, but overall, "Relationships with Steed were better than could have been expected."" However, the arrival of Simon Janney ruins the relationship. Janney's goals of wealth and prestige cause Steed to ignore Pentaquod and his tribe. At Janney's suggestion, he commences burning the forests to clear room for tobacco crops. Pentaquod is greatly upset by the burning of the land, wondering, "Must we burn our forests for London?- Unfortunately, "Steed found it difficult to clarify the intricacies of transocean trading [and] Pentaquod could not understand."" This burning eventually gets so bad that Pentaquod is forced to uproot his entire tribe; his quote perfectly explains the situation: "During many moons I have told me people that you and we could share the river, but I was wrong. You will always want to burn more, destroy more."" Steed expresses remorse at their leaving, and he also pleads them not to go, but he refuses to halt his fires, and that is the only way that the two can coexist.


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