Sobre el autor y la obra
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Félix
Varela
o
Vida:
1788-1853
o
Born
in Cuba
o
Was a Catholic priest and a professor
o
Historical factoid: in 1813, Valera started
teaching science in Cuba with experimental methodology, yet maintained his
beliefs… but no longer scholasticism
o
Fought for Independence of Cuba from Spanish
rule
o
Valera was considered first modern Cuban
thinker, and theologian
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La obra
o
The book was originally published anonymously
but later attributed to Valera
o
Considered first historical novel in New World
o
Criticizes inicuidad of Spaniards a indios
o
Relates the story of Cortés and Tlaxcala and the
general, Jicoténcal (y la traición)
Contexto social/politico
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Se publicó en un momento crítico porque en ese
momento muchas partes del imperio español luchaban para la independencia
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Desire
to criticize everything to do with Spain in light of separation from the
“mother country”
Comps Example Question
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The
narrative as a socio-political vehicle in XIX-century Spanish-America:
Echeverría, Sarmiento, Matto de Turner, Manzano, Varela.
Resumen de la obra
This story follows
the people of Tlaxcala, one of the people groups in the region ruled by the
Aztecs. They have not actually been conquered by the Aztecs though, and
constantly have to fight them off. The main characters are Jicoténcatl the
elder, Jicoténcatl the younger (title character), Teutila, Hernán Cortes, and
La Malinche.
Jicoténcatl the elder
(90 years old) is the head of the senate of his people when Cortes comes with
his men. Using subterfuge, Cortes eventually wins some of the Tlaxcalans over
to his side and they eventually take power of the army. J the younger tries to
keep this from happening, but is unable to. Early in the story, Cortes captures
Teutila and keeps her prisoner for a long time, but she eventually is let go
and marries Jicoténcatl the younger. La Malinche is really the only person who
changes at all—she goes from big-time fan of the Spanish to really unhappy with
them.
In a nutshell, Cortes
wins over some of the Tlaxcala people and they help him as he fights and defeats
Moctezuma and the Aztecs. Then he eventually gets some completely under his
power, instead of treating them like allies. Neither of the J men are listened
to by anyone, and they are both super honorable. We all know how this plays
out—Cortes wins, both J-men die, and Teutila poisons herself and she dies too.
La Malinche has her baby and petitions Cortes to be a better man, but he isn’t.
And he basically ignores religious mandates.
Notes from the introduction of the text (by Luis Leal)
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First historical novel in the New World and
perhaps in the Spanish language
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It was published anonymously, but we’re pretty
sure Varela was the author.
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The theme of the book is the conquest of Mexico
by Cortés and his allies, the tlaxcaltecas
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Besides the historical theme there’s also the
theme of love, in the relationship between Teutila and the young Jicoténcal.
Meanwhile, the young Diego de Ordaz secretly loves Teutila and is also loved,
not so secretly, by doña Marina.
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At the end of the book, Teutila kills herself in
front of Cortés, who she was thinking of killing, and doña Marina repents of
her actions.
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The author had political goals with the writing
of this book
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Teutila symbolizes the innocence of the Indians
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The novel serves as a praise of liberty (represented in the two Jicoténcals) and a
warning against tyrants, represented in the characters of Cortés and Moctezuma
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Influence of the rationalism of the French
enlightenment
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Theme of justice
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The connection between the novel and the
situation of Cuba in its fight for independence from Spanish rule; the novel
could be seen allegorically
o
Maxiscatzin is Arango y Parreño, the traitor of
the independence of his country
o
Cortés is Fernando VII; cruel, smart, and
deceitful
o
Tlaxaca is Cuba
o
Fray Bartlomé is the Catholic church
o
Teutila is the great love for liberty
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This is the first novela indigenista
Personajes
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Jicoténcal the elder – Indian, 90 years old;
head of the senate of his people (the Tlaxcalans)
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Jicoténcal the younger (“Jico”) – Indian general,
title character
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Teutila (“Teu”) – young Indian woman, prisoner
of Cortés and later Jicoténcal’s wife
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Hernán Cortés – Spanish conquistador
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Doña Marina, La Malinche
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Magiscatzin – Indian senator, enemy of
Jicoténcal
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Moctezuma (“Monty”) – Indian, chief leader of
the Aztecs
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Fray Bartlomé de Olmedo – the priest of the
Spanish army
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Diego de Ordaz – a young captain of Spanish
army; he’s a good dude
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Marina – La Malinche, Indian concubine of
Cortés; she betrays everyone
Temas/ideas importantes
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Estilo de escritura
o
Point of view is third person omniscient
o
It’s a historical novel, so there’s some focus
on getting the facts straight and sharing historical background information
o
Really back and forth narration – “so these
people are doing this, and meanwhile this other person is doing this other
thing, and that person is doing blank”
o
The narrator occasionally directs himself at a
character, calling him “tú”
§ Ex: “¡Pobre Jico! Los consejos de tu
padre te son ahora más necesarios que nunca…” (Libro 5)
o
Author includes random quotes from other
historical accounts
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Influencias literarias
o
Historical novel genre
o
Es una obra neoclásica porque tiene un fin tan
moralizante (maldecir los españoles)
o
Influencia
del racionalismo de la Ilustración francesa (Introducción)
§ De las supersticiones, el viejo Jicoténcal
dice: “Un milagro es una cosa imposible, y el creerlo ofende la sabiduría y el
poder de ese mismo Dios que tú… llamas infinitamente sabio y poderoso. Todo lo
que nuestra inteligencia alcanza a conocer en este mundo, está ordenado por
leyes inmutables” (Libro 4)
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Honor
o
El honor es el gran tema de la obra: los dos
Jicoténcatles lo tienen y también Teutila, pero Cortés no lo tiene ni los
hombres que lo ayudan
o
El único español que tiene honor es Diego de
Ordaz, amigo de Jicoténcatl
§ Description
of Diego: “Educado en el amor de la virtud, su honradez se había sostenido
contra el espíritu de su siglo”
o
El hombre de Tlaxcala sin honor es Magiscatzin,
servidor de Cortés
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Caracterización
o
Cortés
§ Es un monstruo que usa toda su sabiduría para
manipular y conquistar la gente de las Américas
§ Described as a cold tyrant
§
Described as a hypocrite and false Christian
o
Teutila
– representation/symbol of the innocence of the Indians
o
La
Malinche
§ La
Malinche es un personaje importante y el único que se evoluciona durante la
novela porque no está tan alegre con los españoles después de conocer a Teutila
§ Nos da una
visión ambigua de doña Marina, La Malinche
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Elemento
humano / los indígenas
o
Nos da una visión idealizada de la gente de
Tlaxcala, aunque no de Moctezuma y los Aztecas
o
Since
the Latin American writers are now able to look back on this whole conquest
centuries later, they’re allowed to play with the idea that the Indians aren’t
really so bad after all – can now venture away from the OMG-we-hate-them
Spanish perspective and explore the possibility that they weren’t so bad after
all (I think Franco mentioned something
to this effect, but not sure where)
o
It’s
interesting that Varela frequently calls the Indians “americanos” rather than
“indios”
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Justicia
o
Jico the elder to Cortés about the pueblo of
Tlascala – “La justicia es su ley fundamental, y el amor de la patria forma su
espíritu.”
o
Jico the elder to Cortés when C doesn’t want to
let Teutila go free – “La justicia es la única regla que debe regir todos los
intereses de todas las causas, y sin ella no hay ni política ni gobierno, sino
despotismo, desorden, y tiranía.”
o
Justice
is constantly referred to as the chief value and motivating force for the good
Indians (the two Jicos, Teu)
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Novela
como un mensaje social/político
o
Description
of the republic government of Tlascala – idea that they were in a republic
because that was fairer; there wasn’t too much authority in one person. This
could be a criticism of the centralized power of the Spanish monarch in the
situation of the colonies.
o
Major
emphasis on love for the patria. (Represented most particularly in the two
Jicoténcals).
o
Theme
of greed – especially on side of Spaniards. Idea that the Spanish were wrong in
the way they acted during the conquest (criticism of anything Spanish), and
possible implication of the continued greed of the Spaniards throughout their
relations with the Latin American colonies and the wars for independence in
early 19th century.
o
Jicoténcal
is developed as the model good leader in every possible way – he’s smart,
prudent, respectful of elders, handsome, brave, etc.
o
Nationalism! – Love of the patria above all!
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Religion
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Idea
of conversion effort as justification for war. YET, their actions are cruel and
are against the true sense of Christianity.
o
Indication
of major hypocrisy of Catholic conversion fanatics (aka fray Bartolomé) – is this a criticism of the Catholic Church?
Seems like it could be, which would be a bit odd since Varela’s a Catholic
priest. Possible justification for him publishing the book anonymously.
o
Idea
that Indian religion is somewhat similar in some ways to Christianity (belief
in one God, same moral values – aka the Golden rule)
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Traición
o
Cortés
manipulates old man into betraying his nation by secretly giving information to
Magiscatzin so the people will turn against Jicoténcal (Libro 2)
o
La
Malinche (Marina) – She’s a traitor to the Indians, like in every sense. Enough
said…
o
Magiscatzin
is a huge traitor to his people
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Metaphor
of sacrifice
So
I noticed that there are tons of metaphors/mentions of “sacrifice.” I included some examples here.
o
When
Diego convinces Teutila to go meet Cortés, metaphor of leading innocent victim
to the sacrifice (Libro 1)
o
When Jicoténcal’s fighting his heart out against
the Spaniards, “hace el sacrificio de todas sus pasiones en el altar de la
patria” (Libro 2)
o
Elder Jico to younger Jico about making peace
with the Spaniards – “Ten prudencia, hijo mío; el verdadero valor y el
verdadero patriotismo exigen el sacrificio de nuestras pasiones algunas veces
más costoso, más difícil, y más heróico que el de nuestras vidas”
o
Jico, thinking about Teutila and the possibility
that she might want to be with Ordaz – “yo sacrificaré mi amor a tu dicha, y,
cuando ésta sea completa, Jicoténcal pagará su inconstancia muriendo a tus pies
y concluyendo así una vida tan amarga”
o
Jico’s
blatant willingness to sacrifice himself for the liberty and well-being of his
nation
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Hypocrisy
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Mr.
Cortés is the supreme hypocrite of the day.
o
Marina
isn’t such a little miss goody-two-shoes either. Enter: her manipulation of the
boys (Ordaz and Jico in particular)… and also of Teu, to whom she’s a very
false friend.
o
The
Spaniards in general are kind of hypocrites too, since they’re preaching
conversion and Christianity yet are total jerks.
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Gender
o
So,
the roles of women aren’t really very much explored in this book. It’s
interesting, therefore, that the two women we have some perspective on (Teutila
and Marina) are both Indian slaves/prisoners of the Spanish conquistadors, yet
are complete opposites. Teutila represents innocence and good, while Marina is
the pure picture of hypocrisy and evil.
Apuntes del texto
Libro primero
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Starts by telling the end of the story: Everybody
always knew that the empire of Moctezuma would fall one day – it was written in
the book of destiny. However, it was really crazy that it fell to a little band
of soldiers led by a tyrant, whose throne was thousands of miles away (Cortés
and his men).
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Description of the republic of Tlascala, of the
land, the people, and the government.
o
“El carácter
de los habitantes era belicoso, sufrido, franco, poco afecto al fausto, y enemigo
de la afeminación.”
o
Government was a republic, with a
congress/senate of elected officials. (Interesting
commentary on how this was fair and there wasn’t too much power in one place –
enter: Varela’s political message)
o
The people had some major national pride; they maintained Moctezuma and his empire as staunch
enemies. (Example: they’d rather live without salt than start trade with
Moctezuma).
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At the time, the young Jicoténcal was the lead
general of the Tlascala pueblo.
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The Indians of Tlascala get news of the arrival
of Cortés and company. Whoever it is that brings the news says that the
Spaniards seem to be invincible, and serve a different God who appears to be
superior to theirs. Their captain (Cortés) says he comes in peace but wants to
attack Moctezuma, so he’d like permission to cross through their lands.
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The Indians get together in their Senate to have
a chat about what to do about the Spaniards.
o
Magiscatzin’s monologue: Hey, so we’ve known for
a while (due to our priests) that some super powerful almost-invincible people
were going to arrive from the East. It seems like these Spaniards are them, and
they seem to be coming with the goal of justice. If these are them, who’s so
bold to attempt to war against people who are so powerful and don’t even have
any beef with us? The gods might punish us if we do that. What harm have they
done us for us to get revenge? Do we have any reason to get violent with them? ¿Perderemos los amigos por atropellar a
los que desean nuestra amistad? We should let them come into our land
and go as they please.
o
Young Jicoténcal’s response: So, just because
Magiscatzin’s old doesn’t necessarily mean he’s right about this. Sometimes
we’re influenced by fear rather than bravery. I have to speak because of my
great love for the patria. It’s true that the common people are totally excited
by the arrival of the Spaniards, and their great power. BUT, their
oh-so-powerful weapons are man-made; they just seem impressive because we
haven’t seen them. Five hundred men, whatever weapons they have, aren’t enough
to make us scared… Other [Indian] nations have already ceded to them, but that
doesn’t mean we should. They’ve been manipulating the Indians with their fancy
speech! These people come into our pueblos, rob our gold and silver, and
disrespect our laws and gods… and yet we call them godly! To me they just seem
like tyrants who want to find more slaves. We have to be careful, yo. For me, I
say we get all our forces together, and take ’em out in one strike!
o
Old Jicoténcal’s response: Young Jic. is right;
we’ve got to be careful if we love our patria! Let’s not be stupid and overly
credible about how powerful and amazing these Spaniards are. The Spaniards are
talking peace, but what they’re really saying is, “I’m coming to enslave you,
your thoughts, your children, and your descendants; I’m coming to rape your
women and rob everything you’ve got.” Who says that these Spaniards (the
vassals of a tyrant) won’t team up with Moctezuma and take us out? For me,
we’ve got to reject them passage through our land, and if necessary, we’ll
defend our land and our people.
o
So, conclusion: We’re going to say no to the
Spaniards going through our land, and send some troops that way (to the border)
just in case they invade.
-
Meanwhile,
back at the ranch, Cortés is chilling with his peeps. The fray Bartolomé de
Olmedo and the captain Diego de Ordaz are chatting alone.
o
Diego says that they’re doing this conquest in
the name of God, but their actions don’t seem very godly. Cortés is tricking
us; he’s not doing right by God/Christianity. Example: He’s had no problem
being adulterous and having relations with this Indian chick. His behavior is
“más imprudente que cristiana.” This mess isn’t good for the conversion effort,
yo! So, let’s say we’re doing it for the king – well, if you look at the
history of the conquest so far, it’s much more about greed than it is about the
king!
o
Fray Bartolomé responds, yeah, you’re right in some
ways. But remember that “Dios ha
escogido grandes pecadores para instrumentos de sus altos designios.”
-
Diego and Fray Bartolomé get caught in a big
storm and a young Indian woman (Teutila) lets them into a cave where she’s hiding for shelter. Diego asks if she’s
scared to be alone with foreign men, and she says no because she’s won the
heart of the bravest general of the Indian army, Jicoténcal. This Indian chick
is awesome and innocent; she’s so open and hospitable – it’s crazy. (representation of the innocence of the
Indians, their good hearts)
o
Fray Bartolomé enters with a bit of conversion
effort, but the Indian chick rejects him, saying she knows all about the being
that created this awesome nature (we’ve got a Pocahontas vibe going on here)
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When Diego and Fray Bart. report back to Cortés
about the Indian chick, he says he’s interested in meeting her – supposedly for
information, but really because she’s hot.
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Diego goes looking for the Indian chick again,
and when he finds her, he also sees some arrows stuck in a tree in a particular
pattern. The chick warns him: Jicoténcal is out to have war against you dudes.
We don’t have that metal you all are craving in our land; so beat it and leave
us in peace, or our people will have to kill you guys. Diego asks her to come
back with him to meet Cortés, and she agrees to go as an ambassador for her
people.
o
“¡Qué
fácil es de engañar un corazón generoso y noble!”
o
There’s an uneasy feeling about this agreement –
something’s going to happen. Metaphor of leading the victim (Teutila) to
sacrifice.
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The Indian chick, Teutila, meets Cortés and
tells him her life story. She’s from a different Indian nation, which made
peace with the nation of Tlascala in their mutual dislike of Moctezuma. Then,
this peace was screwed up because the Tlascalan dude Magiscatzin (the bad
Indian from before) raped a girl from Teutila’s nation, and then lied about it
and started a war. In the war, Teutila met Jicoténcal, who kept his nation from
destroying hers. Her mother died in her arms in the war. The laws of war made
Teutila a slave for the Tlascalan nation, but Jicoténcal treated her super
well. Teutila reveals Magiscatzin’s deceit to the two Jicoténcals. The old
Jicoténcal talks with the young Jic and warns him that troubling times are starting,
what with the faint news of some dangerous foreigners about. He hopes that the
young Jic will be the next leader of their people. Let’s have peace with this
other nation, since we might be getting into a mess with those foreigners
anyway, and then maybe one day you can marry this woman Teutila. Teutila and
Jic separate sadly – forbidden love.
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Teutila
warns Cortés about Jicoténcal’s strength – “Jicoténcal está en guerra contra
ti, y Jicoténcal es invencible.” So don’t try to beat him, make peace, yo!
Teutila offers to go to Jicoténcal as an ambassador of peace for Cortés. Cortés
is planning to make war on Jic, but suggests to Teutila that she goes with them
to have some peace talks (it’s a trick!).
Libro Segundo
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Little philosophical reflection to start this
section – whenever there’s war/conquest between nations, there are little side
effects. Here, since there was a different religion, all the conquistadors
justified the war on the Indians as a conversion effort. “[Los conquistadores] tomaron por pretexto de sus
aventuras la propagación de una creencia que casi no conocían y que insultaban
con su conducta.”
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Little summary of who Hernán Cortés is and how
he came to be involved in the conquest of the New World. (Historical novel genre). Cortés was originally studying letters but
got impatient and set out for the New World, coming to Cuba in 1540 and getting
married. He had some issues with his leader in Cuba, Diego Velázquez, who was
jealous of him, so Cortés decided to do his own thing and take Mexico. He
rapidly gained the reputation of being invincible in Mexico after his victory
in Tabasco, due to his fancy firearms and horses, which were unknown to the
people there. He took advantage of this new reputation to make allies of
several Indian leaders in order to take down the head honcho, Moctezuma. His
troops are a bit uneasy about the whole thing so Cortés burns their boat so
there’s no going back.
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Back to present time: Cortés and his troops are
entering the Tlascala nation. Cortés finds an old Indian, who he sends to tell
Magiscatzin that they’re on their way, but they just want peace and want to
help him out. (Cortés is using info that Teutila told him to manipulate the
Indians and set them against each other). So, the old Indian happily betrayed
his patria, thinking he was doing his nation a service. (Traición).
-
The battle between the Spaniards and the Indians
of Tlascala begins – the Tlascalans hold their own and get some damage in on
the Spaniards. Teutila realizes that Cortés isn’t going to try and make peace
like he said he would and is pissed, yet she’s stuck there with him. A
messenger lets Jico know that Teutila is held prisoner by Cortés (but I don’t
know if he believed it or not? Weird wording here).
-
The next day, the battle continues, and
Jicoténcal is rocking it. It starts to seem that the Spaniards can’t possibly
win this thing. But, the Indians are running low on the necessary supplies to
keep the battle going, and Jico doesn’t want to accidentally allow defeat, so
he decides it’s best to retreat (even though he’s so close to victory he can
taste it – self-control is a necessary
quality in a good leader).
-
Magiscatzin is pondering what he should do for
his best personal benefit. He starts to sway some good men from Jicoténcal’s
good cause, for his own evil purposes. He manages to pass an order in the
senate for a hold-fire for a few days.
-
Meanwhile, Teutila is in prison, maintaining her
dignity. Fray Bartolomé is annoying the crap out of her, trying to get her
converted. She finally snaps and calls him a hypocrite. “Your actions aren’t
speaking at all well for your religion, unless your God is an evil dude. I’m
pretty sure you guys are just evil, since God is good by nature. You don’t know
God… I believe in a God too, but I trust in the God I believe in for the
vengeance he’s going to have on you guys.” (religion/conversion/hypocrisy)
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Teutila’s only moments of peace are when she
spends time with another Indian prisoner, Marina.
o
Marina = La Malinche. Background: She was given
as a gift to Hernán Cortés, who had her converted and baptized. She became his
concubine and confidante. Now, she’s following Cortés’s instructions and acting
as a “falsa amiga” to Teutila to manipulate her. (Traición).
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Cortés sends some prisoners as messengers to
Jicoténcal: “So, sorry about killing your peeps. It was kind of your fault
though, since we came in peace and you decided to start stuff. Sooo, if you
don’t stop this senseless battle, we’re going to have to annihilate you.”
Jicoténcal responds, “Prepare yourself, because we’re not giving up this
battle.”
-
Magiscatzin sends word to Cortés: “I’m on your
side!” Warning: Jicoténcal is one intense dude; it’s going to be hard to beat
him, but here are some allies that can help you out. We’re going to hit Jico so
hard that the senate will be begging to make peace.
-
Diego de Ordaz doesn’t go out to battle the next
day due to an injury. He’s feeling
sorry for Teutila. “Su generoso corazón lloraba en secreto la esclavitud de
Teutila, y su honradez se estremecía del abuso indigno de la fuerza con que se
la oprimía.” He’s falling deeper in love with Teutila day by day.
-
Marina asks to talk to Ordaz and tells him that
she’s crazy in love with him, and that she’s only with Cortés by force. She
says she wants to be with him while Cortés is out (at battle) to get her
revenge against her oppressor in the only way she can. Ordaz rejects her,
because that’s against his honor.
-
Then, Ordaz goes to visit Teutila and says he
pities her and wishes he could do something to help her, and he confesses his
love for her. Marina overhears and comes in to interrupt, mocking Ordaz for
playing modest in one room and then trying to seduce a slave in another. Ordaz
bails, feeling horribly embarrassed, and Marina warns Teutila against all these
“manipulative” Spaniards. Teutila is shocked by the hypocrisy of the Spaniards (since she’s manipulated by Marina, she
doesn’t see Ordaz’s true kindness). Then, Marina warns Ordaz to be careful
since Cortés has it out for him anyway and will use any excuse to bring him
down. (She’s basically a deceitful little snake, huh?)
-
Battle between Cortés’s Spanish troops and
Jicoténcal’s Indian men again. Jico’s group is doing well, creaming the
Spanish. Then, one of Magiscatzin’s allies disobeys Jico’s orders and sends
some of his men against Jico’s troups (his own countrymen). (Traición). Jico is forced to retreat,
and the Spaniards are relieved – Cortés’s troops are not at all sure of their
ability to win this thing.
-
Jico is worried that the senate will vote to
make peace despite how close they are to beating the Spaniards, solely due to
Magiscatzin’s strong influence. He knows the smart thing is to continue battle,
so he takes his men and attacks the Spaniards during the night. (Jico is crazed
with patriotism). The senate sends
orders to cease battle and seek peace, and Jico ignores them and continues
fighting. He sends out some spies, who are betrayed and announced to Cortés by
Magiscatzin’s men. So Cortés captures Jico’s spies and cuts their ears, noses, fingers,
and toes off.
-
The Indian senate of Tlascala sends Cortés a
desperate plea for peace, promising to control Jico. Cortés says he wants them
to send Jico himself as an ambassador of peace.
-
Jico is pissed, but his father Jico the elder
warns him to be careful, as he doesn’t want to start a civil war – that would
be even worse for the patria. So he advises him to make peace, and to be on the
lookout for any funny business.
-
Magis is happy he looks good with both Cortés
and his people since Jico is going to have peace talks with Cortés
-
Jico goes to talk peace with Cortés. His nation
will now allow Cortés to pass through their lands in peace, just please respect
their gods, women, and property. Cortés acts all pleased and actually hugs
Jico… we can be friends now, yay! Jico then asks to speak to Cortés alone and
asks him why he has taken Teutila prisoner. Cortés refuses to answer him,
saying such inquiries are inappropriate, and Jico leaves. Cortés realizes what
a powerful enemy Jico is… this dude has got to go.
-
Teutila comes and says, “Hey since y’all made
peace, I must be free to go!” Cortés asks her to be patient, since he wants to
tell her a secret.
-
Marina has made peace with Ordaz, acting very
ashamed for her mistake/boldness. While all the soldiers are partying, she
plays some game with him and some others. Preoccupied with the game, he ends up
alone with her, at night, still playing. Suddenly a door slams and Marina says,
“Oh no, that’s Cortés! He’ll kill us if he finds us here alone together!” So she
hides him locked in a little room. Ordaz is like whaaat? Ordaz’s thoughts: “Hay casos en que toda la
prudencia de un hombre honrado no puede impedir que lo arrastre el torrente de
la fatalidad.” Marina comes
back to check on Ordaz and says she’s learned from his virtue and will try to
control her passion. Then, do they have
sex? Ordaz flips out and says he’d rather be in danger than in this
embarrassing situation and demands that she open the door. Marina is pissed.
-
Cortés goes to talk to Teutila. He insults Jico
and tries to seduce Teutila, but she’s having none of it. All she wants is her
freedom, and to know about Jico. Cortés throws himself at her and poor Teu is
horrified by the hypocrisy. “¡Y tú eres a quien llaman héroe!... ¿En
qué infierno has aprendido tanta perfidia, tanto disimulo y tanta maldad?” Teu
says she’d rather die than be with him… “Yo te desprecio como tirano, pero me eres insoportable como
amante.”
-
The next morning, Ordaz and Fray Bartolomé chat.
Fray Bart is happy because he says they’ve been blessed in their battles by God
– they’ve been saved by divine miracles! Little bit of religious philosophy here, because Ordaz argues that he doesn’t
think that God really focuses on such little details of life; Bart responds
that not even a leaf moves without the express will of God. Then, a little bit
of political philosophy: Ordaz
questions the cruelty with which Cortés is treating Teutila, and Bart says it’s
not for them to question: “no nos toca a nosotros examinar” – gotta respect authority, yo. This touches on
the important question of blind
obedience vs. will of God / true respect for God’s laws.
-
Cortés triumphantly enters the main city of
Tlascala (23-Sept-1519). He makes a great show of his entrance. The elder Jico
greets him – “We are glad we can be friends; we hope you really honor your
promise to respect our gods, women, and properties.” Jico tells Cortés they can
put away his weapons and celebrate the peace. Cortés thanks him but says
they’ll hang on to their weapons, because “that’s the tradition in our
country.”
-
The Tlascalans have prepared a nice party for
the Spaniards. Cortés says the first person he wants to talk to is the first
senator who suggested peace (aka Magiscatzin); Cortés thus favors the “rebels”
and snubs the patriots who wanted to continue fighting, although he hides this
motive by saying it’s another tradition of his country.
-
Teutila and Jico are looking for each other, but
Cortés prevents any meeting from happening by making sure the guards close
Teutila away. Teutila finds herself as a slave in Tlascala again, and is sad
her second “oppressor” is so much worse than the first.
Libro Tercero
-
Another philosophical reflection to start this
section – All nations have times of glory and times of degradation, and often
the change between the two times is quick.
-
The elder Jico is worried about the treachery of
Magiscatzin and the effect it might have on the Tlascala nation. He talks to
the younger Jico and says that they must try to hide Magis’s treacherous
actions from the pueblo, because bad examples are contagious. “So, let’s just
keep an eye on things and maintain our good relationship with the people who
have remained loyal to the patria – if the Spaniards go through with the deal
and attack Moctezuma, we can be ready to help them out, and if they betray us,
we’ll be ready to defend ourselves. Meanwhile, let’s keep an eye on Cortés,
because he’s one sneaky dude.”
-
Diego de Ordaz and Jicoténcal make friends. Jico
says he doesn’t understand how valiant men (the Spaniards), some of whom are
honorable, allow themselves to all be submissive to one despot (the Spanish
monarch).
o
Jico: “Having one man in power just doesn’t make
sense, since it’s natural for a man with a lot of power to abuse his position.”
o
Ordaz: “You’re kind of right, but the Spanish
kings have guided our nation to glory, and so, ‘el honor de un español está
identificado con la fidelidad a su rey.’”
o
Jico: “A king is still human and can mess up. I
mean, look at Monty…”
o
Jico the elder: “You’re both right in your own
ways. But ultimately, what matters most is the pueblo – a smart pueblo won’t
tolerate any funny business for long… ‘Todos los pueblos tienen sus
ventajas, y aún más todavia sus inconvenientes’” – Remarkable, logical, realist way of thinking!
-
Meanwhile, Teutila is still held prisoner.
Marina is spending time with her under instructions from Cortés to try to turn
her against Jico. Marina doesn’t go for that plan though, and just warns Teu
not to be seduced by the Spaniards.
-
Jico visits Cortés trying to get news of
Teutila. Some word play about all men being flawed, whether or not they pretend
perfection. Cortés rejects him and leaves.
-
Jico runs into Marina and asks her if she’s
still americana or if she’s been corrupted and sweet-talked into other beliefs.
Marina says she’s unhappy as a slave, but it’s what destiny has forced on her. Jico
is impressed by and attracted to this “grace.”
-
Meanwhile, Ordaz still loves Teutila. There’s a
volcano nearby that’s smoking, and Ordaz is super curious about it. He goes to
the top of the volcano to check it out, hoping to impress Teu with his bravery.
Jico asks why he did it, and Ordaz confesses all about his love for Teu. Jico
doesn’t know what’s up with himself, since he doesn’t get mad.
-
Jico the younger talks to Jico the elder and
speculates that he could love and marry Marina, since she seems so virtuous.
Also, maybe that relationship could bring some good to the patria, further
cementing our relationship with the Spaniards. “Yet, I still love Teutila, and
I don’t want to abandon her for some other chick.” Jico the elder responds that
Teu might fall in love with Ordaz, which Jico would have to accept as the
better match for her. He warns Jico the younger about Marina, suggesting that
he doesn’t really think she loves him, and that she might actually be spying on
him for the Spaniards. Jico the younger rejects that idea (he’s innocently stupid…).
Jico the elder says that Ordaz would know; they should talk to him about
Marina.
-
Later, Jico (the young) goes to visit Marina and
learns that she is PREGNANT. Jico is like what, no, she’s an honorable young
woman. The Spanish soldiers make fun of him and tell him that she’s their
captain Cortés’s lover. Jico is like WHOA the hypocrisy! Comparison of Marina with a snake (biblical allusion, yo).
-
Jico the elder and Ordaz are talking about Jico
the younger and Marina, and Ordaz flips out saying Jico can’t possibly be with
Marina because she’s horrible. Jico walks in and says, no worries, I know her
for real now; I just heard she’s preggers! Ordaz is like OMG, what if it’s my
baby… But yay, Cortés is the baby-daddy.
-
So, Jico and Ordaz talk about Teutila. They’re
both so noble that they are willing to let the other one have her; they just
want her to be happy. (Oh these two…). Ordaz says he will try to arrange for
Jico to be able to see Teutila secretly, but they’ll need Marina’s help. Ordaz
blackmails Marina into doing it, so she betrays him by sending a Spanish
soldier to tell Cortés what’s going on. Jico + Teu = happy reunion! Jico talks
frankly with Teu and basically says, hey, Ordaz loves you, so I understand if
you want to be with him and get your freedom that way. Teu: “Um no, I don’t
think Cortés would go for that, and besides, I love you, silly.” Jico: “But, I
kind of sort of fell for that horrible chick Marina.” Teu: “I forgive you, now
hug me. Oh, by the way, foreigner (Ordaz) – I totally respect you and all, but
you’re a friend, nada más. This is my man.” THEN – Cortés enters and attacks
Jico! Ordaz is like, ok, screw subordination, I’ve gotta help my friend! So,
Cortés puts away his sword and locks both Ordaz and Jico into cells. (It really is like a soap opera! Or a
telenovela to be more precise…)
-
Now,
Cortés is in a tough spot. Teu is really pissed at him, and Jico needs to be
dealt with, but he’s so well loved by the people that doing anything to him
could cause problems. Also, Ordaz can’t really be dealt with publicly because
his defense would be escandalosa. So, Cortés sends Marina into Ordaz’s cell
to try to talk some sense into him.
-
Then,
Cortés talks with Jico the elder and tells him what went down. He says, listen,
I don’t want to ruin the friendship between our nations by punishing Jico the
younger like he deserves. So, I’ll show you what a generous Spaniard is like.
Then, Cortés brings out Jico the younger. Though Jico the elder says good
things about his son, Cortés says he’s blinded by fatherly love and Jico’s
nothing more than one proud son of a gun. Jico’s father also says that Cortés
shouldn’t have Teu imprisoned like that and it would be strategic to let her
go.
-
After a bit, Cortés frees Ordaz and acts like
nothing ever happened. About
Cortés’s actions: “como suelen acostumbrar a los que se llaman políticos, pasó
por encima de todas las formalidades” (critique
of politicians)
-
Cortés is preparing to leave Tlascala. The
senate decides to send a group of Indian soldiers with Cortés to help him in
his journey towards Moctezuma; Jico will be with these troops. Cortés says he
doesn’t need the troops, but Jico says he can’t disobey the senate’s orders, so
he sends word to see what the senate wants him to do (the senate ends up siding
with Cortés). Meanwhile, Teutila takes advantage of the situation and runs out
to hug Jico and beg him to rescue her. Jico tells his troops to stay calm and
says, “Sorry, even though this is totally unfair, this woman isn’t of our
nation and we don’t have the senate’s authorization to rescue her. Gotta respect the patria over the passion.”
Then, he begs the Spaniards for her freedom, having proven his loyalty to the
patria and to their alliance. Cortés rejects him and has his men take Teutila
away. Teutila tells Cortés,
“Quítame, bárbaro, la dulce satisfacción de amar a un hombre que tú mismo
admiras y envidias en este momento. No quiero mi libertad; tu opresión realza
más ese heroísmo que tanto contrasta con tus horribles maldades.” Meanwhile,
Jico laments his situation, “¡Oh, patria mía! ¡A que duras pruebas me pone tu
amor!” Gotta love patria before all
else!! Major nationalism.
Libro Cuarto
-
Philosophical reflection: When a nation/pueblo
is divided in itself, it’s inevitably the victim of its enemies… so if the
pueblo loves liberty, it needs to pull itself together.
-
Therefore, Tlascala is doomed because it’s
divided – it doesn’t matter how good the army is or how determined Jico is.
-
Cortés is getting sick of Teutila’s resistance
to him; he begs her and pressures her to no avail and almost rapes her but her
shouts cause a frenzy in the camp so she’s safe.
-
Cortés
– not a good Christian because too ambitious “el altar de la ambición, su ídolo
favorito”
-
Cortés runs into Teutila’s uncle amongst some of
Monty’s ambassadors. He feeds him a load of crap about Teu, “Oh, she’s not a
prisoner, we’re just keeping her safe from that horrible Jico; he was taking
advantage of her and has her seduced and crazy.”
-
Cortés has attacked some Indian pueblo with no
need, so Jico comes in to check on things and offer his assistance again (he’s
rejected again). Since he’s already there, he goes to talk to Teu’s uncle and
tells him the truth about the situation with Teu and Cortés. The uncle’s not
sure at first but Jico convinces him, then the uncle laments his nation’s
subordinate position to the tyrant Moctezuma… “Jico, you’re our only hope.” The
uncle says that once they have peace, Jico can marry Teu.
-
Teu is sick but feels much better when she is
able to see her uncle, who consoles her and promises her upcoming marriage to
Jico. Ordaz also hears the good news and tells Teu he’s happy for her… so then
Teu is sent to be married to Jico, yay!
-
Teu’s uncle sends word/news about the situation
with Monty; basically he’s really scared of the Spaniards so he’s kind of
flipping out, so things are looking great for the natives.
-
Jico and Teu get married!
o
Jico’s father: “Don’t let your marital bliss get
in the way of serving your patria!”
o
The newlyweds are “blancos como la nieve”
o
BUT,
“La inocente alegría de esta sencilla familia no fue de mucha duración.”
-
There are some more foreigners coming into the
Mexican land, apparently they’re enemies of Cortés? Jico the younger wants to
get involved, but Jico the elder says no – maybe these two groups of foreigners
(Cortés and unknown others) will fight it out and kill each other… with no
Indian casualties!
-
Cortés goes out to meet the foreigners and they
make friends so he ends up adding soldiers to his troops. They pass back
through Tlascala on their way back towards Monty.
-
Magis feels so proud of being friends with
Cortés that he renounces the Indian religion in favor of Christianity. Fray
Bartolomé gets all excited and tries to convert
Jico the elder. Jico
calls him out for talking the talk, but not walking the walk. “And, by the way,
I already know there’s only one God. And, I don’t see how he could’ve
created the world because how can something come from nothing.” (interesting
theological arguments, possibly reflecting Varela’s thoughts.) Bartolomé
tries to show him the mysteries of the faith. But, Jico el anciano says, “Hey,
if they’re still mysteries then God really hasn’t revealed anything! And if you
want to do a miracle, bring my wife back to life.” Bartolomé got embarrassed.
They agree on the golden rule; but Jico says, “If god wanted us all to think
the same, he would’ve made us the same. And preach your things to your people
because you look ridiculous preaching peace and love and acting like
barbarians.”
-
Cortés tells Jico the young that Teutila is
being rude by not paying Marina a visit while she’s in town. Jico tells him
that his wife is honorable, and won’t be spending time with any hooker… that
pisses Cortés off. So Cortés goes to tattle to Magis, and complains about Jico,
saying “We’ve gotta do something about him.” Cortés’s manipulation… His plan: “Ordaz
is eating with Jico and Teu tonight, so we’ll send someone to take Ordaz
prisoner and Jico will get mad and try to defend him, so we’ll imprison them
both. In the meanwhile, we’ll take Teu.” However, the plan doesn’t work because
Ordaz goes docilely to be imprisoned and therefore Jico never gets involved,
and Ordaz is soon freed.
-
Marina goes into labor and is not doing so hot,
she’s scared she will die (and go to hell). She starts to confess everything
she’s done wrong. The baby is born and Marina is majorly maternal, despite
being such a bad sinner. Marina is happy and she wants to see Teu to share her
joy with “another future mother.” Teu agrees to stay with Marina while she
recuperates from childbirth. Cortés is happy to see her there and tries to
manipulate her, and then locks her in with Marina. So, Teu jumps out the
window. Ordaz sees her and goes to help her (she doesn’t recognize him in the
dark). He leaves her close to Jico but runs off without explaining since he’s
got to get back to Cortés, so Jico doesn’t know what happened and is pissed,
thinking that maybe Teu has betrayed him. (Celos).
-
Cortés doesn’t know what to do with Teu, since
he still wants to keep the alliance with Tlascala. He’s going to send Ordaz to
set her free, so Ordaz tells him she’s already back safe and sound with Jico.
Then, Cortés and his troops head back towards Monty in Mexico.
Libro Quinto
-
Yet
another little philosophical reflection: “En los grandes apuros las
resoluciones medias producen siempre los resultados más funestos.”
-
Jico the elder’s age is starting to get to him…
he starts to worry more about his son than the nation. He just wants to hang
out with his son and Teu before he dies.
-
Meanwhile, Jico and Teu are having issues since
Jico’s suspicious of her for her weird contact with Ordaz that other night. (Don’t they know they have to talk it out?
Silly kids…) So Jico’s having an internal crisis; meanwhile, Teu and Jico
the elder have no clue what’s going on. Finally, Jico the elder is like “Dude,
what the hell is going on with you two?” Everything comes out to the open when
Jico the elder remembers to ask about Ordaz, and Jico the young insults him,
while Teu defends him. Jico finally learns the truth and begs Teu for
forgiveness for his lack of trust. Yay, we’re happy again!
-
Update on Cortés: He’s being respectful of
Tlascala right now, since it’s to his advantage to maintain them as faithful
allies. He’s conquered some other city, and is waiting for the Tlascala
senate’s permission to proceed towards Monty. He comes back to Tlascala to
celebrate how all is going well.
-
Cortés goads the Tlascala nation into starting a
little war with a neighboring nation, which Tlascala defeats. Thus, Cortés
manages to weaken the Mexican empire by having this province taken down – with
no Spanish casualties. Meanwhile, he has some boats constructed for the Spaniards’
use – strength.
-
Then, another emperor of Mexico, Guatimotzin
(what happened to Monty?), sends ambassadors with gifts to the senate of
Tlascala. Basically, “We can be friends, but only so long as you help us beat
the Spaniards.” There’s a major debate in the senate about what to do.
(Conflict between Jico the young and Magiscatzin).
-
Meanwhile, Teu’s uncle comes to talk to Jico,
and we finally get an update on what’s going down in Mexico’s capital (the
center of the empire). So, earlier, when Cortés and co had arrived in Mexico’s
capital, they imprisoned Monty. Then they had to leave, because of the other
foreigners that had showed up that they needed to go check out. Yet, even
though they were gone, Monty didn’t want to come out of prison because he was
acting like he was happy there so that his people wouldn’t know he was scared
of the Indians. Meanwhile, there was a huge party in the city, and Monty wanted
the Spaniards to come. So the Spaniards totally took advantage and attacked the
defenseless Indians. So then, the Indians named Quetlabaca as the emperor
regent in order to wage a war of revenge on the Spaniards while Monty was still
imprisoned. There was some major battle, it was rough. At least some Spaniards
died… “Al fin conoció el pueblo que
los extranjeros no son inmortales.” Then, Monty tried to get the pueblo
back under his control by manipulating them, and the emperor regent Quetlabaca
was like hell naw. The pueblo listed to Quet, and that idiotic tyrant Monty
finally ended up dying. Then, the pueblo flipped out, crying over Monty’s
death. Quet was like screw this, let’s finish the job, and led another attack
against the Spaniards. Plenty of Spaniards died, along with even more of their
Indian allies, and the Mexican Indians managed to run the Spaniards out of
town, but poor brave Quet died in the battle and that jerk Cortés escaped. So,
a new emperor was named: Guatimozin (the one who sent the ambassadors of peace
to Tlascala). He’s actually a cool dude
and wants to rectify Monty’s wrongs.
-
The next day, an old friend of the family lets
Jico the elder know that Jico the young is in major trouble. Apparently someone
saw him talking to one of the Mexican ambassadors (aka Teu’s uncle) and this is
a major betrayal. So now the senate is going to accuse him of treason. First,
the senate declares that they accept Guatimozin’s offer of peace, but they’re
not going to turn against the Spaniards. Then they have their hearing against
Jico the young. Jico is released from his position as general as his punishment;
Jico the elder is just happy his son his safe, but Jico the young is sad
because he wants to be able to help his patria.
-
Cortés knows that even though Jico’s not the
general anymore, he’s still a danger – Jico’s gotta die! Everyone respects him;
he’s a major risk.
-
Tlascala
has declined: “Desde este momento dejó de existir como nación la república de
Tlascala. {Metapahor about how the honor of a nation is like the honor
of a woman}. Empero la infeliz
república de Tlascala fue condenada por entonces a sufrir por largas edades el
digno castigo de su vil prostitución.”
-
Marina has changed – she admires the virtuous
Teutila, and sees Ordaz as a sincere friend. When Magiscatzin dies, Marina
allows herself to turn even further towards the good side. At his death,
Magiscatzin repents of his evil actions and asks for forgiveness.
-
Then Marina talks with Fray Bartolomé. She says
she’s glad not to be a slave anymore and to just be the lover of Cortés. She
says she will convert to Christianity even though it seems like a monstrous mix of sweet words and atrocious
actions… “When I was in my religion, that you called idolatrous, I was a
virtuous woman. Ever since I was baptized a Christian, I’ve been horrible. So,
tell Cortés that his slave will make his bread and wash his clothes, but won’t
ever be his accomplice in evil again.” Bartolomé gets mad at the way that
Marina talks about Christianity, so he says she can be lost to God’s grace, but
“give me the child, because he will be saved.”
-
Then, Jicoténcal the elder falls ill; he’s close
to death but is super peaceful because he knows he’s led a good life.
-
Meanwhile, Cortés, the Spaniards, and the
Tlascaltecas are fighting against some other Indian province. Cortés gets sent
some reinforcements from Cuba – more Spaniards, motivated by their greed for gold.
-
Cortés returns to Tlascala when he gets word of
Magiscatzin’s death… doesn’t want to risk his alliance with the Tlascaltecas.
Cortés enters the city in mourning for Magis’s death, so as to look good for
the people. (“farsa ridícula”)
-
Cortés is mad at Marina for acting like a
goody-good all the sudden (because she said she wouldn’t be his accomplice for
bad anymore). Marina says that she was super affected by Magiscatzin’s
repentance before his death.
-
Jico the elder dies peacefully in his bed,
surrounded by his loved ones including son Jico and friend Ordaz. He left most
of his inheritance to charity. When Cortés finds out about Jico the elder’s
death, he forbids the Spaniards to show any mourning for him; Ordaz is the only
one who goes to pay respects.
-
Ordaz is sick of Cortés’s cruelty against the
Indians, so he decides to leave his troops and heads back to Spain. Jico and
Teu are very sad to see him go.
-
Jico is super worried about his patria, which
has rapidly fallen apart due to the detrimental alliance with Cortés and the
Spaniards. He wants to restore his nation to its former glory. His plan is to
accompany the combined army of Tlascala and Cortés (which is going to head
towards the Mexican empire), and then provoke a rebellion amongst his people
for the liberty of Tlascala – which will result in either Cortés leaving, or
him dying fighting for his patria. Cortés is smart, so he forces Jico to divide
the Tlascalteca army in three, taking two parts under his own command.
Libro Sexto
-
“La
justicia es el alma de la libertad”
-
"en vano los historiadores
intentan encubrir la negra infamia con que se cargó para siempre aquel insolente
y astuto [Cortés]" Amongst the trash written down, you can find chispas
de verdad.
-
Teu is super lonely since Jico the elder’s dead
and Jico her husband is out with Cortés. She’s nostalgic for the time she was
imprisoned by Cortés since at least then she wasn’t worrying over Jico’s
safety. Teu goes travelling to visit her family. On the way, she stops to
revisit the cave that she and Jico used to meet in to see each other secretly. She
finds a Spaniard bound up there, naked. She tries to help him, and then
discovers that two of her own people have done this to the man, and they say it’s
because he raped one of their women, who then died (“al perder su honor perdió tambien la vida”). Teu
kind of gets it, but thinks it’s not fair because it goes against established justice
system. The men: “Justice in our nation
is wrecked; the republic has been manipulated by the Spaniards!” Teu: “While authority exists, you have to
respect it.”
-
Cortés is moving through these Indian lands,
doing his thang. Interesting that he tries to subtly promote the idea of a hereditary
monarchy instead of an elected republic.
-
Idea that
fate is against the Indians – “el destino fatal que había decididio la pérdida
de América”
-
Jico’s getting desperate. His troops are slowly
moving over to Cortés’s side.
-
Cortés knows he’s got to be really careful in
order to be able to win this thing. He needs to make some strong moves, yet he’s
a coward. (“el déspota en sus
grandes golpes es tan cobarde como un asesino”). One day, Cortés wakes
up to find a Spaniard hung outside his window.
-
Jico’s
willingness to sacrifice himself for
his nation – “El valiente americano había proyectado sacrificar su vida al país
que lo vio nacer, librándolo del monstruo que lo asolaba.”
-
“Los tiranos no necesitan de pretextos para
hacer mal: su opresión no reconoce más límites que los de su poder.”
-
Cortés betrayed Jicoténcal’s third of the army,
cutting off their resources and then attacking them. Jico gets shot in the leg
and is taken prisoner. Cortés is still afraid to kill him (scared of retaliation
of other Tlascaltecas), so he tries to manipulate him into confessing his own
guilt of treason. It’s all a no go. Jico doesn’t care if he dies; he just wants
his patria to be ok. Jico is publicly executed.
-
Someone brings word of Jico’s death back to Teu,
who’s devastated. She cooks up a plan to go with Jico’s cousin to get revenge
on Cortés. Teu takes the dagger that Ordaz had given Jico.
-
During Teu’s journey towards Cortés, she meets a
woman who had met Jico previously. (Bit of woman-to-woman talk). The woman
tells her about her awful experiences with the greedy Spaniards – they killed
her husband. (Desire for revenge – “Cuando la justicia social nos abandona, nos queda
la natural”)
-
Teu arranges to see Cortés with only the fray
Bartolomé and Marina present. She’s planning to kill him, but wants to control
her own fate too, so she takes some poison right before their meeting. Cortés
is late to the meeting, so Teu is getting super weak, close to death, by the
time he shows up. Teu is unable to kill him, and as she is dying, she tells
them that this is a divine sign that the gods will take care of revenge. Teu
dies cursing Cortés for having killed her Jico.
-
Marina goes up to Cortés and says there’s still
time for him to change and be good. Cortés is somewhat moved by her words. Fray
Bart takes the opportunity to remind Cortés to dedicate himself even more to
God. Cortés snaps out of it and says maybe it would be easier to be nice and
peaceful, but that’s not his destiny. Tomorrow we continue towards Mexico City.
THE END – FINALLY!!!
And, extra bit - some extra notes on Teu's final actions and the book's end, because they're frankly priceless :-)
oxymoron- She is showing feroz serenidad. When Cortés enters he is as pale as a cadaver. Yet, her fuerzas don't obey her voluntad (is this because it is against the nature of a woman to kill?!?) She seems to die OF ANGUISH (What kind of weaksauce ending is this?!)
Cortés realizes that once things turn ugly, it's so hard to turn back. Fray Bartolomé considers this his come to Jesus moment. And, end scene.
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