The fact that the Fray immersed himself and lived with the Indians for four years indeed grants a base for his learning of the TaÃno language but it is dubious whether he actually was able to grasp, appreciate and understand the meaning of their legends, traditions, customs, beliefs and general way of life. It can take a person the majority of a lifetime to adapt to a completely different culture yet alone an unprecedented one. .
The second book analyzed for this comparative essay is Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas 1500-1750. The author is Kris E. Lane and it is a much contemporary work, more than four complete centuries younger. The period it covers is obvious, as it states in the subtitle, the first two hundred and fifty years following the first contact between the Europeans and the peoples of the New World. This book centers around the figure of Pirates in the development of colonial and imperial America - that encompassing the southern, central and northern thirds - and role they played by either facilitating or impeding the colonies' growth and expansion. Interesting enough, Lane chose a specific yet broad range of time to set her work, which ultimately allowed her to maintain specific goals and divide the timeframe in appropriate terms. The book sets off as soon as Columbus reaches land until the rule of the King Phillip V of Spain. The geographic setting Is set in both colonial America and their correspondent empires. The three main subjects of study are the French, English and Dutch fleet, and their involvement in piracy labors with the Spanish Empire; the relations of the national' pirates with other countries' colonies and the interactions of the colonies within themselves is a major study area in throughout the book.
Piracy has always been a fascinating subject to generations during and following its period, while many have suffered the imposition of pirates as a group of misfits and fun-loving criminals, the author's main objective is to shed this biased, romanticized and sensationalistic view of them.