Comparing Conrad's Death Of Fray Salvador Montano, Conquistador Of

History has shown that our current society, government, and culture were shaped by countless wars, battles, conquest and deaths. From small tribal wars to the bloody World War II, the history of the world has been written with the blood of the fallen warriors and soldiers, of innocent children and women, of countless lives that have fought and failed. It may sound brutal and unfair but the reality of mankind’s nature of survival shows that conflicts are inevitable. Religious conquests also paved the way for the birth of new cultures around the world and the death of the pagan gods that people originally believed in. These events in our history were all reflected in many works of literature such as Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” and Rosario Cruz Lucero’s “Death of Fray Salvador Montano, Conquistador of Negros” which both showed colonialism under the Europeans but each presenting a different aspect. The European colonization began in the late fifteenth century with Portugal, Spain, and England as its forerunners (Ferro, 1997). Colonies were important for many empires during …show more content…
In this short story, Fray Montano is a friar in Pueblo Buyonan who taught the natives of Negros the teachings of the Church. Similar to what have his predecessor Fray Duertas have done, Fray Montano tried to “Christianize” the way of living of the people by teaching them religious songs and by asking them to attend mass every Sunday and to make sincere confessions to the point that their lives are “like an open book to him.” A notable part in the story is when Fray Montano showed the people a picture of the Divine Punishment and when he said that all will be punished when one commits the sin of disobedience and betrayal of God’s trust. This event in the story shows how fear motivates obedience, and how people became devout to assure that they will be