In Elmer Kelton’s Politically Correct or Historically Correct,” he discusses the way people perceive and describe historical events. Some individuals may describe an event completely differently than another person simply because they saw it from a different perspective. In fact, this difference in perception may be due to one person recounting the event as it was told to them by someone else or because they interpret the event in a particular way. Many historians have a tendency to focus on the positive aspects of historical events and ignore the negative aspects.
Most of the historical books were written by men, or that is what most people think. It is very difficult to find a book written by a woman, especially if it was in the West. Kelton stated that there were books written by women, but it was difficult to find them. Actually, this is true, but it has changed throughout the years. There have been more books written by women and other minorities. Kelton also talks about some civilizations that were established to the south in Mexico, like the Aztecs and Mayans, and how they were built through fighting, enslaving, sacrifices, and the destruction of others.
This gives you an idea of how civilizations came about in Mexico and what kind of civilized people they were. Indian tribes would fight about everything and most would not recognize other tribes as the same race, but as a different tribe and enemy. Many people from these tribes were killed because of battles that arose over hunting rights or simply because they were different. Elmer Kelton’s work Politically Correct or Historically Correct” informs readers that history did not always happen the way it is described, written, or told by historians and writers. Some people see history differently because they do not see it from the same angle. I found Kelton’s work informative because it talks about things that other books do not mention and things that people could never know unless they talked to someone who was present during many historical events throughout time.
