Week 11 prompt

To determine good guys and bad guys in Clendinnen’s book is not very easy. She is not overly definitive of which side she portrays in a negative manner, nor does she write with a bias that demonstrates any sort of favoritism. It is hard as a reader to determine who is good and bad in this context however I have been able to establish several conclusions. One, Hernan Cortes is not a villain to the natives, throughout the book he is mentioned and he is not a vicious leader conquering all villages he passes through. “Cortes contrived to gain the cooperation of the chief Naum Pat, and persuaded his men to treat the Indians of the Island with unaccustomed gentleness (16).” He turned out to be a more passive leader than previously described, understanding the importance of alliances. The Franciscans on the other hand come off as heroes to the natives. They were heroes because of their attempt to “save the souls” of the indigenous natives and convert them to Christianity. By converting the natives the friars had hoped they would be able to keep natives away from the settlers whose purpose for the natives was to enslave them and use as labor. (need quote) The lords in the villages can also be seen as villains in Clendinnen’s text. The Maya lords who were put in a place of power were largely corrupt with how they ran villages and they even bastardized the Christian faith the friars had attempted to bestow on the natives. “Lopes Medel had been as much puzzled as outraged to find that native lords, obstinately persistent in their traditional rituals, also set up illicit schools and churches where they pretended to teach the Christian doctrine (164).” These actions would lead natives to be heavily scrutinized by friars for not practicing the faith they taught.