In "Of Cannibals" by Michel de Montaigne, Montaigne describes the so-called "barbarian" in a very different light. Even if the Cannibals eat their enemies, he tells how they do it in a far nicer manner than they could have. He brings up a good point that they are much more civilized because they only chop up and eat the people AFTER they are dead, instead of torturing them while they are alive, like some of the more "civilized" colonies of the time.

Another aspect of the Cannibals that Montaigne is telling us is less barbaric than we are, is their warfare. He says it is “Wholly noble and generous….they are not fighting for the conquest of new lands.” The warfare of the civilized people is full of greed for land and riches.

This tells us how people are very judgmental in their opinions of what is "civilized" and what is not. It was very common in that time that if someone had different ideals or cultural behaviors, they were instantly pegged as barbarians. Yet, Montaigne is saying that when we look at it, they actually are less barbarous than we are. Their actions and lives are free from monetary corruption, and their lives are simpler. He states "So we may well call these people barbarians, in respect to the rules of reason, but not in respect to ourselves, who surpass them in every kind of barbarity."