“I would tell Plato that those people have no trade of any kind, no acquaintance with writing, no knowledge of numbers, no terms for governor or political superior, no practice of subordination or of riches or poverty, no contracts, no inheritances, no divided estates, no occupation but leisure, no concern for kinship – except such as is common to them – no clothing, no agriculture, no metals, no use of wine of corn. Among them you hear no words for treachery, lying, cheating, avarice, envy, backbiting or forgiveness.” (84)
This quote by Montaigne is crucial to understanding his perspective of the native people. The reading is primarily about how Montaigne reacts and perceives the native people of Brazil. He analyzes how different they are, and is surprised as well. He is surprised particularly by how pure they are. He finds that they seem to abide primarily by the laws of nature, which is something he never expected to encounter. They don’t seem to have any interest in worldly possessions, like gold. Instead, they are more focused on living by their own means and simply surviving. As a result of the natives being completely pure of any outside influence, he also notes that these people lack a lot of the negativity that exists in Montaigne’s world. He specifically notes the lack of any accusations of treachery, lying, cheating; etc. There is no doubt that Montaigne is intrigued by this, especially because it is something he wishes Plato could’ve seen. Plato spoke a lot about nature and the beauty it held, as well as about how everything comes from nature. Montaigne believes Plato would be especially astounded to see the native people because its something he would never be able to imagine. He’d need to see such a spectacle for himself. The quote really put an emphasis on just how drastically different these native people were from some of the already established societies in Europe.
I also found this quote quite intriguing because of the way the author is basically stating that even though the natives do not have a government or any type of structured society with laws and regulations, they are better than the Europeans in the sense that they are not envious, liars, or cheaters. They live a pretty simple life and abide by the laws of nature, as oppose to the Europeans that are constantly fighting for land or gold, or whatever else they desire. This is not an issue with the natives because they do not own property or care for material things. I agree with your last statement where you talk about how the author was trying to emphasis the differences in societies between the natives and the Europeans and how he tries to portray the natives as being the more civil group, whereas the Europeans can be portrayed as barbaric in a way.
I agree with your assessment on Montaigne’s perception of the natives; specifically when you stated that he was surprised by what he saw. Montaigne upon arrival is very observant of the culture and is quick to point out contradictions to previous documented accounts of New World interaction. This can be supported with a quote on page 83 where Montaigne reveals the natives are “…still governed by the laws of Nature and are only very slightly bastardized by ours; but their purity is such that I am sometimes seized with irritation at their not having been discovered earlier, in times when there were men who could have appreciated them better than we do”. From this quote we can further deduct that Montaigne is impressed by what he sees and even considers himself privileged in having partaken in the social interaction.