Two Accounts: Broken Spears and Bernal Diaz Essay Example

the importance of Montezuma/Motecuhzoma through wealth and belongings. The great Montezuma/Motecuhzoma was so dominant that not only could other Aztecs not look him in the eye, he also retained all of the finest chattels.

For the Spaniards to have been so close to such a great amount of wealth and power within Mexico, the Aztecs must have thought there was a need for such appreciation. This also displayed a certain level of faith to let the Spaniards get so close to someone they held so high in the community. The Aztecs clearly thought the Spaniards were powerful and worthy of such great company. In summary, this seemingly small agreeance demonstrated Montezuma/Motecuhzoma’s standing within the city, while at the same time it also exemplified a certain level of trust and respect towards the Spaniards.

Another similarity in the two versions proves to be the accommodations that the Spaniards were given. This is a crucial aspect; it provides additional backing to the thought that Spaniards were worthy of some sort of note-worthy treatment. When the Aztecs realized the Spaniards were tired from their long journey and upon the arrival of their captain, Motecuhzoma told them, “Rest now, and take possession of your royal houses. ” (Broken Spears 608). Then, “…the prince led him to his apartment in the hall where he was to lodge, which was very richly furnished in their manner” (Diaz 601).

Having this part of both renditions match nearly perfectly provided truth to a second aspect of both Diaz’s account and the account of the Aztecs. The vast differences in the light that portrayed the Spaniards make it so that neither

interpretation was more truthful than the other; the accounts are simply that, an interpretation. Both the Aztec account and Diaz’s account presented prevailing biases. Not surprisingly, in Diaz’s account the Spaniards were presented as the “good guys”.

Diaz claimed that the Spaniards were there to communicate things from their Lord God and to give the Aztecs warning of their wrong-doings. The favour he now begged of the great Montezuma was that he should listen to the words he now wished to speak. Then he very carefully expounded the creation of the world, how we are all brothers, the children of one mother and father called Adam and Eve;…so that they might give up the worship of idols and make no more human sacrifices—for all men are bothers—and commit no more robbery or sodomy. Diaz 602)

In this passage Diaz claimed that they were simply trying to spread the word of God and stop some of the unnecessary bloodshed and violence that took place in the Aztec’s culture. However, in the account told by the Aztec’s, “[The Spaniards] ran everywhere; they invaded every room, hunting and killing” (Broken Spears 614). It is apparent here that the interpretations do not match up in these two selections. This makes it hard to believe either since the two have such immense renditions of the true intention of the Spaniards.

Yet another significant difference is the intention of the Spaniards. In Diaz’s story he claimed, “…that in coming to see and speak with such a great prince we had fulfilled the purpose of our voyage and the orders of our lord the king” (Diaz 601). That account

claimed that all the Spaniards wanted was was to spread Christianity and meet someone in a high-ranking position. It would be fair to say that they Spaniards wanted nothing more than to explore yet something untold in this account went horribly wrong with the communication between the two.

After things went awry with the Aztec’s they decide to, “seize Montezuma rather than wait for him to attack us” (Diaz 607). On the opposite end the Aztec’s account stated that they thought the Spaniards were gods and the Spaniards in a sense played along with the Aztec’s assumptions. Upon the arrival of the Spaniards, Motecuhzoma addressed them by saying, “The journey had tired you, but now you have arrived on the earth. You have some to your city, Mexico. You have come here to sit on your throne, to sit under a canopy” (Broken Spears 608).

In this second account there was a wrong assumption but according to the Aztecs the Spaniards made no corrections and took advantage ultimately killing whoever they pleased while taking whatever they wanted. Here, the Aztecs are not aware of why the Spaniards suddenly started massacring their town; they only know that it had happened. It is clear that there are major discrepancies, possibly due to a kink in their line of communication, in the two accounts making it very difficult to decode the real reason the Spaniards found themselves in Mexico and what events occurred leading up to the fall out of the two cultures.

The first communication between the Aztecs and the Spaniards leaves many questions to be asked. Both the Aztecs and the Spaniards wrote

of their encounters with the other, nevertheless, there may always be discrepancies between the two. Both parties agreed in two significant factors. Diaz and the Aztecs wrote of there being a richly furnished place for the Spaniards to stay. Both stories were also in collaboration of the high-ranking Montezuma, as the Spaniards called him, or the high-ranking Motecuhzoma as the Aztecs called him.

However, the Spaniards thought they were doing a righteous deed by coming to Mexico and spreading their beliefs, while the Aztecs told stories of anything but righteous deeds from the Spaniards. Lastly, the Spaniards claimed to be on more of an exploratory journey to meet others and spread their beliefs, whereas the Aztecs mistakenly thought the Spaniards were gods coming to take their throne. Despite the fact that both deliveries vary dramatically from each other, truths can be found in both, neither is remotely more reliable than the other one as a whole.