Malintzin: An Ordinary Woman who took advantage of her Circumstances

It seems to me that Malintzin was simply an ordinary woman who, because of her circumstances (learned Maya because of her enslavement, knew Nahuatl, etc), was exceptional  Townsend points out that Malintzin was brought to the Spanish as a peace offering (p. 2).  We discussed in class, however, that Malintzin could have chosen to stay behind in the Mayan village.  I think it is at this point that she starts to be considered exceptional by any meaning of the word, because she starts learning Spanish.  Malintzin could have chosen to stay behind when the Maya offered her to the Spanish , but if she had, I think another slave girl would have gone instead.  It was because of Malintzin's apparent desire to improve her life, that she is the one that, according to Restall, came to be considered as a "symbol of betrayal" (p. 86).