In Song of the Hummingbird, Graciela Limon illustrates how her life and the lives of other Mexica people were destroyed by the Spanish conquest and Cortés. A young monk, Father Benito Lara, is called to hear the last and only confession of an old woman named Huitzitzilin. Huitzitzilin had much to say about her life and the coming of Cortés and the Spanish which intrigued father Benito therefore he begins to listen to her stories everyday and writes down what she was saying to record her side of what happened during the conquest . He begins to see the story through the eyes of a native and develops sympathy for Huitzitzilin so he forgives her sins. Graciela depicts how natives were victimized by the power the Spanish had, they were stripped
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You have to understand their beliefs, their culture, their lives and what they’ve been through to really understand who they are. At first, Father Benito did not think he would be able to forgive Huitzitzilin “ I want to absolve you, but you must give me time” he could not believe that she had taken the life of her own baby. As she continues to tell the priest more about her life and what she had been through he begins to have some sympathy for her. She goes on to tell him about the night Tetla beat her near death “down to Mictlan, to the land of the dead, and deeper still down and down even beyond the kingdom where your own prince Lucifer lurks” (pg53). After she told him the story of what happened that night he began to feel bad for her “ He was so filled with her pain that he could not speak”. By the end of the novel when Huitzitzilin has passed away Father Benito thought to himself that he was chosen “ to see it through her eyes inits wholeness and not in fragments”. He understands that she didn’t expect mercy from him she only wanted people to understand “her life, of her people, and of their beliefs”. The lesson learned is to not judge others until you truly know them. The truth might surprise …show more content…
Students learn from the Aztec point of view what happened when Cortes discovered the land and claimed it for Spain. Most books do not talk about how the Aztecs were treated or how they were stripped of everything they knew down to their own names but “Song of the Hummingbird” does. For instance, the Spanish imposed the Aztecs to release themselves of their "savaged" ways. This included to release themselves from the believes of many gods to turn christian, and only cherish the one God the Spanish so deeply glorify. But that wasn't the only thing that the Spanish deprived from the Aztecs, "...You mean you have to make sure that I have been robbed of everything even my name," (Pg 62). This spoke by Huitzitzilin after Father Benito asked her what was her Christian name, because like you guessed the Spanish even made the Aztecs rid of their real names. We find out that Huitzitzilin's Christian name is Maria de Belen, but when the Spanish conquered the Aztecs they had to be baptized, and get another name because according to the Spanish the Aztec names were of the devil. We also learn things about rituals the Aztecs had and how the women were seen at this time. For example, “‘hear then Lady Huitzitzilin, that I, Tetla, chief attendant upon the governor of Tenochtitlan, will take you as a concubine and as a part of my household
You have to understand their beliefs, their culture, their lives and what they’ve been through to really understand who they are. At first, Father Benito did not think he would be able to forgive Huitzitzilin “ I want to absolve you, but you must give me time” he could not believe that she had taken the life of her own baby. As she continues to tell the priest more about her life and what she had been through he begins to have some sympathy for her. She goes on to tell him about the night Tetla beat her near death “down to Mictlan, to the land of the dead, and deeper still down and down even beyond the kingdom where your own prince Lucifer lurks” (pg53). After she told him the story of what happened that night he began to feel bad for her “ He was so filled with her pain that he could not speak”. By the end of the novel when Huitzitzilin has passed away Father Benito thought to himself that he was chosen “ to see it through her eyes inits wholeness and not in fragments”. He understands that she didn’t expect mercy from him she only wanted people to understand “her life, of her people, and of their beliefs”. The lesson learned is to not judge others until you truly know them. The truth might surprise …show more content…
Students learn from the Aztec point of view what happened when Cortes discovered the land and claimed it for Spain. Most books do not talk about how the Aztecs were treated or how they were stripped of everything they knew down to their own names but “Song of the Hummingbird” does. For instance, the Spanish imposed the Aztecs to release themselves of their "savaged" ways. This included to release themselves from the believes of many gods to turn christian, and only cherish the one God the Spanish so deeply glorify. But that wasn't the only thing that the Spanish deprived from the Aztecs, "...You mean you have to make sure that I have been robbed of everything even my name," (Pg 62). This spoke by Huitzitzilin after Father Benito asked her what was her Christian name, because like you guessed the Spanish even made the Aztecs rid of their real names. We find out that Huitzitzilin's Christian name is Maria de Belen, but when the Spanish conquered the Aztecs they had to be baptized, and get another name because according to the Spanish the Aztec names were of the devil. We also learn things about rituals the Aztecs had and how the women were seen at this time. For example, “‘hear then Lady Huitzitzilin, that I, Tetla, chief attendant upon the governor of Tenochtitlan, will take you as a concubine and as a part of my household