Miguel Hidalgo: La Historia Jamas Contada

Miguel Hidalgo (Hidalgo) was a foremost a man, and secondly a priest. He did not like to be controlled by outside forces, but forcibly conceded to working under the watchful eye of the Catholic Church. Through this Hidalgo was presented with many conflicting ideas regarding the importance of faith of which the standards were set by the Catholic Church, and reason, which was influenced, by the ideas of the Enlightenment. Hidalgo, the historical character is presented as being someone who saw great conflict in these ideas, and saw that the only way to crown a victor was through warfare. However, the character of Hidalgo in Hidalgo: La Historia Jamas Contada actively sought peaceful ways to have both ideas of faith and reason coexisting in the …show more content…
One of the scenes that spur his turmoil is that in which Father (insert annoying priest’s name here) is attempting to expel a Mestizo boy from the village Church. As a Jesuit, Hidalgo would have ideally accepted the fact that the boy did not belong in his Church and would have gone about his day, not thinking anything of the incident. However, Hidalgo acts with the reason of the Enlightenment and allows the boy to attend Mass as his own personal guest, and even seats him in the front of the Church, much to the chagrin of the other parishioners (Serrano). It is at that moment in which Father (insert annoying priest’s name here) realizes that Hidalgo would bring too much attention to the quiet village of San Felipe, and sought to take him down. Nevertheless, Father (insert annoying priest’s name here) would not be successful as Hidalgo garnered a following throughout the village, even turning the most devout of the villagers towards his life of merriment, again influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment. In this instance, Hidalgo questions why his status as a priest would bar him from such activities as dancing, drinking, and gambling. Since the Church was seen as an institute of government, Hidalgo saw the rules set by the institution as promoting inequality by not allowing certain citizens, as the result of their …show more content…
Reason can only have one victor. In Hidalgo’s case, reason prevailed because everything that allowed him to have true faith was taken away from him, or forced upon him by the institutions of the Catholic Church and the Spanish Monarchy. This holds true until the penultimate scene of Hidalgo’s death in which he is forced to repent for his actions, something that is supposed to leave someone feeling like their most vulnerable self. However, Hidalgo is never absolved, and any inkling of his former status as a priest was stripped away from him, up until the moment of his execution when his cross is taken from him. This gives one cause to believe that Hidalgo is a tragic hero as the Church that took everything away from him was still able to control him until his death. However, Hidalgo’s end further fueled the fire of Mexico’s revolution, and his followers had reason to believe in following through with their original cause after Hidalgo’s death, in which they finally brought the Church down to the level of influence that the revolutionaries desired, which was close to none. Therefore, it could be stated that faith won the battle in Hidalgo’s case, but reason still found its way back into the fight, which shows the true combatting nature of these ideas. They will always be present in any form, strong or weak. One may prevail over the other, but an equilibrium will always be found again leading to the recommencement of the original