"Paradise Found and Lost" from Daniel J. Boorstin's The Discoverers, embodies Columbus' emotions, ideas, and hopes. Boorstin, a former Librarian of Congress, leads the reader through one man's struggles as he tries to find a Western Passage to the wealth of the East. After reading "Paradise Found and Lost," I was enlightened about Columbus' tenacious spirit as he repeatedly fails to find the passage to Asia. Boorstin title of this essay is quite apropos because Columbus discovers a paradise but is unable to see what is before him for his vision is too jaded by his ambition. Although this essay...
there were two continents they had never heard of, how much else was there in this world that they did not know? Boorstin has stated "that the greatest obstacles to progress is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge." Columbus was an inspired, courageous person who wanted to reach out across the world, as it had never been reached before. Boorstin's views Columbus as a hero, but I beg to differ with this view. It takes more than courage and tenacity to shape a hero, it takes integrity and character. Columbus was a great explorer, but not a hero.