innocent Columbus

 

Come to think of it, the verdict on Columbus may be unfair to him. To a seaman bent only on confronting the rough waters, unmindful of anything like the closing of the Medieval Age or the opening of the Colonial Age, the verdict may have been a too harsh one. When we think of his death as a forgotten and lonely man with all the glory behind, after long years of suffering from a series of ailments, we cannot help feeling all the sorrier for him. But we have also to bear in mind that a man's doings, however personal they may look, cannot be free from endless social implications. [Shenzi]