Malinche: The Voice of a Nation
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woman in both the Spanish and Aztec cultures. She convinced him that
the Spaniards would treat him with respect and intimated that Cortes was
the reincamation o f the feathered serpent, Quetzalcoatl.
The Aztec leader invited the Spanish into the city and provided
them with suitable accommodations. He took Cortes to the top o f his
great temple. Speaking through his young interpreter, Cortes asked the
Emperor o f the Aztecs if he would remove the pagan idols, so that the
Spaniards could erect a cross and an image o f Our Lady. Montezuma
replied, “If I had known you were going to utter these insults I would not
have shown you my gods” (Diaz 237). Eight days later Cortes took
Montezuma prisoner. Cortes forced Montezuma to call his chief nobles
to a special meeting. He demanded that the Aztecs come under the
protection o f the Spanish king and took hostages ffom noble families to
ensure that they kept their word.
W hen Montezuma ordered his people to acquiesce to the
demands o f Cortes, a struggle broke out. In the ensuing melee, the
Aztecs killed Montezuma. Cuitlahuac, his successor, continued the
resistance. When the Aztecs prevailed, Cortes ordered his soldiers to fill
the causeways with debris and led them out o f the city at night, La Noche
Triste. Düring this escape, Malinche separated from the main body o f
soldiers. When they reunited, Diaz commented, “how glad we were to
see our Dofia Marina” (302).
The Spanish lost the gold they had looted from M ontezuma’s
treasure house, but escaped with their lives and took reftige with the
tribal groups that opposed the Aztecs. Meanwhile, the indigenous people
feil victim to small pox, a disease unknown in the Americas before the
arrival o f the Spaniards. According to Sahagun, the disease “spread over
the people with great destruction o f men” and weakened “the brave
Mexican warriors” (64). The defense o f Tenochtitlan crumbled. Spanish
soldiers recaptured the Capital in 1521.
Malinche and Cortes settled in Coyoacan, a village near
Tenochtitlan, where she gave birth to the conquistador’s son, Martin
Cortes, in 1522. Most Mexicans regard Martin as the first mestizo. In
actuality, Gonzalo Gurerrero, a shipwrecked sailor fathered several
children before the birth o f M alinche’s son. In 1524, Malinche and
Cortes joum eyed to Honduras in pursuit o f Spanish rebels. Düring this
expedition, Malinche reunited with her mother and forgave her,
according to Diaz (86).
After his Spanish wife arrived from Cuba, Cortes insisted
Malinche marry one o f his lieutenants. Diaz stated that Malinche