Malintzin by Any Other Name

            Camilla Townsend clearly states from the beginning of the book “We cannot know…”(1). The difficulty of Malintzin is that there is nothing written in her own hand to tell us her thoughts. We have the experiences of others and their interactions with her, but as well documented as those are one must question their validity based on the individual motivations of those writing. What does exist is a wealth of anthropological information on the indigenous people of the era in which Malintzin lived.

            So Townsend attempts to situate Malintzin in the context of the time. But in so doing, she puts to light something that might not be at first apparent: sooner or later someone else could have been Malintzin. La Malinche’s story is not rare. She was sold as a slave, but one among many in a culture where household slaves were an established part of the economy. She spoke many languages, but in a region where many languages were spoken and it would have behooved her to speak at least one or two to function beyond her native dialect. She was given as a gift to the Spaniards, but only because she had no children or perhaps because she was recalcitrant and not working well as a slave.

            Though Townsend points to the individual skills of Malintzin, she treats her much as she treats the Spaniards: if not Cortez, then another would have come (Velasquez, the governor of Cuba, for example). Malintzin was fortunate enough to have the right skills and be in the right place at the right time. Though the book is called Malintzin’s Choices, the point I think Townsend makes quite clearly is that the choices were really non-existent. She had no say in being sold as a slave. Once a slave, being given to the Spaniards was not a choice she could make. In the care of the Spaniards she could have remained silent, but seeing her companions become communal property to five hundred conquistadors would have probably motivated her to find a way to distinguish herself. She had no reason not to help against Moctezuma, particularly if her tribe was at war with Tenochtitlan. In short, perhaps the circumstances were exceptional, but there were many women who could have been Malintzin.