Ambivalent Conquests

Ambivalent Conquests

Upon reading Clendimen’s book, the first thing that stuck out to me was the title of the book. I genuinely had to look up definition of “ambivalent” which according to Meridian-Webster dictionary is “simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings (as attraction and repulsion) toward an object, person, or action”. All of a sudden, the title and the content of the book made sense. Clendinnen primariy uses Bernal Diaz’s history of the conquest to describe the encounters between the Spaniards and the Natives or “Indios” as they were wrongly named by the Spaniards. However, these encounters were often bloodly and included attacks perpetuated by the natives to resist the attempts of the Spaniards to convert them to Christianity. In this essence, the “ambivalence” part of the title of the book refers to the Spaniards failed attempts at conquering the Yucatan Peninsula which was mainly Mayan as they focused at least in the early years on the Aztec empire which was deeper in land. Ambivalence also refers to the superficial acceptance by the Maya to accept the practice of Christianity, as also seen in the movie “The Other Conquest”.

Obviously this transition between what the Spanish saw as Pagan worship and Christianity was not an easy one and quite actually was very bloody. In the early years, the role of the church was vital and Cortés subjected the natives not only under the Spanish Throne but under the name of God and Christianity. Communication was the problem, and as read on “Malintzin’s Choices” the Spanish eventually managed to communicate with the native Maya, but the issue of communication lingered for a while. The result of this miscommunication was violence.Theresistance to, and ambivalence of, the conquest can be linked to this "confusion of tongues".

The setting (Yucantan Peninsula) was very hectic and dangerous. Constant struggle and fighting between the Spanish and natives. “ Eightly Spaniards were wounded by the first shower of stones, arrows and darts. Then the Maya closed, wielding their double-edged war clubs, stabbing with their short lances”. (p. 11). Violence definitely is the natural result of miscommunication. Clendinnen’s book addresses the  multiple effects that the “confusion of tongues” had and why it was extremely difficult for the Spaniards to penetrate deep into the jungle and fight off the Mayas.