John Chapman or Johnny Appleseed

History is a tricky subject learn about and analyze. Many people ask why is history important? The common answer to this question, is that if we don’t learn where we came from, history is bound to repeat itself. Now, just because we are taught history throughout most of our education, it does not mean that everything that is presented to us is necessarily true. There are many accounts of history that are framed differently depending on who is recounting the story and what their agenda is.
John Chapman, or Johnny Appleseed as many Americans refer to him as, is a good example of history revising a story. When Pollan first mentions Johnny Appleseed a very distinct image popped up in my head and it most closely resembled the image in the Disney clip. However, Pollan’s quest to find the true John Chapman was very interesting and got me thinking. When Pollan went on his tour of many “Saint Appleseed” landmarks in Ohio, he learned about the version most Americans like to see; omitting the darker side, such as the applejack and young bride. I enjoyed Pollan’s analytical and thorough look at John Chapman. He took in to consideration the heroic stories, but delved deeper and made his discoveries, even comparing him to Dionysus. When there is a controversial figure like John Chapman, one must take into consideration all the different versions and accounts to get a truly complete picture.
Disney and Pollan have very different agendas for sharing the story of Johnny Appleseed and this comes across in how their stories are told. The Disney version is geared more towards children and average America; people who take things at face value and like to hear the positive side of things. It’s not necessarily bad, but something you must consider when looking at their version. Pollan’s agenda for looking at John Chapman is very different, he wants to see who the real man was and why Americans have idolized him. Pollan must look more in depth and not ignore the darker side. In the end, both versions are about John Chapman, or Johnny Appleseed, and whichever one you believe to be more true is the truth for you, because we will never be able to really know which one is the actual fact. For myself, I like to think of it as a combination of truth; a little bit of Disney and a lot of Pollan. I like the Disney image, but I realize there was much more the man we call Johnny Appleseed.