Canek & Broken Spears The purpose of this research is t

The story that unfolds through Broken Spears is one of a people's destiny both thwarted and fulfilled by the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The Aztec analysis of the conquest is straightforward: Cortes arrived in Mexico, assessed the human and political situation to the degree he could and exploited the atmosphere of civil war to facilitate the slaughter and conquest of the Aztecs. He could do this because he had no interest in the civil war; the Spanish would slaughter whichever party survived.

Beyond such analysis of Spanish motives and methods, and even beyond a realistic appreciation of superior Spanish weaponry, is a vision of apocalyptic myth. The tone is at once that of lamentation and of scornful commentary on the ignoble, virtually uncivilized manner in which the Spaniards despoiled Mexican civilization: "They gathered all the gold into a great mound and set fire to everything else, regardless of its value" (Leon-Portilla,

. . .
ve in regard to the ultimate Aztec assessment of the conquest. The Aztecs, having heard of the slaughters of other cities, try diplomatic and magical artifice to fend off the Spaniards but are essentially fated to be conquered. In one account, the god Tezcatlipoca scolds Motecuhzoma for failing to make adequate preparations for war, sending Motecuhzoma into a fatalistic depression from which neither he nor his people recover. In another, Motecuhzoma tries, without success, to transform the mission of conquest into a protracted state visit. Only the priests insist to the end that the Spaniards can be defeated, but they are slaughtered with no more ceremony than the common people. The fact that the wise (holy) men are devoured by dogs can be interpreted as the indifference or even betrayal by the gods of a heroic people. The elegaic poems can be interpreted as a self-conscious awareness of such indifference and of how much has been lost: "We have seen bloodshed and pain / where once we saw beauty and valor. / We are crushed to the ground; / we lie in ruins" (Leon-Portilla, "Flowers and Songs of Sorrow," 1992, p. 149). The absolute Spanish military victory did not entirely erase Aztec culture in the colonial period, despite the wide
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Aztecs Aztecs', Mexico Aztec, Jose Hoil, Europe Mexico, Gomez Canek, Canek Gomez, Songs Sorrow, Spain Zapata's, Nahua Testimony, Aztecs Motecuhzoma, leon-portilla 1992, broken spears, indigenous culture, aztec culture, voice oppressed, european culture, conquest aztecs, civil war, god quetzalcoatl, mayan people,
Approximate Word count = 1396
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)