Understanding the Mask of the Spaniards and the Mask of Martin Guirre - Assignment Example

Understanding the Mask of the Spaniards and the Mask of Martin Guirre The destruction of the Indies as accounted and told by Bartolome de Casas aims nothing but to let people understand the things that history itself doesn’t know the mask of the Spaniards. This is in parallel with the mask of identity that impostor Martin Guerre in the story “The Return of Martin Guirre” used to have the life of the real Martin Guirre. The topic that will be laid first in this paper is about the misfortunes that the Indians have met in the hands of the Spanish people and this will be followed by the Martin Guirre’s story. Bartolome de Casas Story: As part of the wanting to let the people know the things left unknown, there are several points that have to be cleared and furthered stretched from the long story which was translated several times, having English as the sixth one. The first point that can be derived from the long and different narratives of places visited and devastated by the Spaniards is the point saying that the repetitive tortures and stories of killings, butcheries and burnings which lasted for many years appears like a culture that runs in the blood of the Spaniards. Except for Queen Isabel who according to the author as a kind heart and should be blessed by the heaven, the rest of the greedy Spanish people is a full version of evil masked with a purpose of spreading Christianity and heaven’s blessing for the people. Understanding this blood of terror that reached and proliferated from America to the New Kingdom of Granada, we get to know the possible emergence of terror not just in the future but in the present globalized world. More than that, it is also significant to express the ‘otherness’ of the Indians in their own country. Aside from losing their right for decisions concerning their lives and politics in their own land, they also lost the real path and direction to where they wanted themselves to be because of the fear of meeting death in the hands of the executioners. The message here as we underscore this point is that we can never tell how it all ended or if at this point in time it is still happening. We usually mind our own lives and only take notice of history in class or during tests. But the evil, the pain and the picture of butcheries stay unknowingly. Time moves like things that change but some things just evolve through time. The repetition of events and ways, means and processes of killings and snatching of children from the breast of their mothers only give a hint to all of us that things can be repeated at any cost and at any time. Moving forward, the second point that is being raised in the long tale of stories and unimaginable sufferings of the Indians is the terrifying cravings of the Spaniards not only for gold and power but for flesh. It is not enough to describe these people as animal-like or predators, instead it is better to understand why they behave that way. Below are some lines from the writer’s creation, all of which describe the longing to feel the Indian flesh clinging from their burned or wounded bodies. Which the _Spaniards_ no sooner perceived, but they, mounted on generous Steeds, well weapond with Lances and Swords, begin to exercise their bloody Butcheries and Strategems, and overrunning their Cities and Towns, spard no Age, or Sex, nay not so much as Women with Child, but ripping up their Bellies, tore them alive in pieces. They laid Wagers among themselves, who should with a Sword at one blow cut, or divide a Man in two; or which of them should decollate or behead a Man, with the greatest dexterity; nay farther, which should sheath his Sword in the Bowels of a Man with the quickest dispatch and expedition. The Lords and Persons of Noble Extract were usually exposd to this kind of Death; they orderd Gridirons to be placed and supported with wooden Forks, and putting a small Fire under them, these miserable Wretches by degrees and with loud Shreiks and exquisite Torments, at last Expird. (de las Casas) The implication of these lines is simple. In their longing for flesh they seek power. In their quest for gold, they seek comfort through overpowering authority. But this is the reason why fear was born in Europe. There was no clear description of what power over people really means. Authority becomes something to be feared by people and not respected. It is obvious that it’s either the tip of the sword or through horrifying death that Indians meet their death. It is also through all these that they have shown their lordship amongst the natives of Europe. What then are the symbols that go together with this crisis of authority that can be seen throughout the whole masterpiece? These are the sword, the repetitive ripping of flesh and cutting of human bodies, snatching children from the breasts of women, butcheries and the hunting of Indians through some fierce dogs that all throughout the different stories, were mentioned several times. An example of this is given below. I once saw Four or Five of their most Powerful Lords laid on these Gridirons, and thereon roasted, and not far off, Two or Three more over-spread with the same Commodity, Mans Flesh; but the shrill Clamours which were heard there being offensive to the Captain, by hindring his Repose, he commanded them to be strangled with a Halter. The Executioner (whose Name and Parents at _Sevil_ are not unknown to me) prohibited the doing of it; but stopt Gags into their Mouths to prevent the hearing of the noise (he himself making the Fire) till that they dyed, when they had been roasted as long as he thought convenient. I was an Eye-Witness of these and and innumerable Number of other Cruelties: And because all Men, who could lay hold of the opportunity, sought out lurking holes in the Mountains, to avoid as dangerous Rocks so Brutish and Barbarous a People, Strangers to all Goodness, and the Extirpaters and Adversaries of Men, they bred up such fierce hunting Dogs as would devour an _Indian_ like a Hog, at first sight in less than a moment: Now such kind of Slaughters and Cruelties as these were committed by the Curs, and if at any time it hapned, (which was rarely) that the _Indians_ irritated upon a just account destroyd or took away the Life of any _Spaniard,_ they promulgated and proclaimd this Law among them, that One Hundred _Indians_ should dye for every individual _Spaniard_ that should be slain. (de las Casas) The overpowering authority over the humble Indians from all over Europe cannot be blamed to fate itself nor to education. Had they not done all that were mentioned, the World could not have bear strong nations brought about by survivals from these Indians. However, the killings of hundreds of thousands Indians can never be justified by this idea. In the first place, what is obvious is that they only looked for gold. But perhaps more than gold, which symbolizes riches and comfort, they have longed for authority that can last more than a lifetime. This is done by committing horrifying deeds that can never be forgotten specifically by the Indians who bore the grudge of fate in history. The use of the sword and the use of gold to attain a long lasting name and power in short became their rightful path in putting their names in history. The Spaniards and its blood continue to run in the modern age. It has evolved in many names from which it’s hard to identify what and who are the relatives of these evil-like ways. But no matter how modern we are now, or even if we talk of the future, the past can never be changed, maybe forgotten, but never will it be changed. Understanding that it has transformed to a different image, this crisis of authority can perhaps still be seen today. It dresses itself as an era of globalization. One country rules over the world. It may even come out as the current infamous country which aims to kill all the terrorists or can be a dominating country which throws surplus items to poor and unyielding nations that survive by eating the rejects of the powerful countries. Reading the masterpiece of de las Casas, we are not called to just raise eyebrows and say Ewe! We are called to learn from it and above all, create a difference in our lives even just a bit. The goal is to see in this modern age the real meaning of authority because blindness can in truth, get us so far, to the point of human annihilation. The _Spaniards_ first set Sail to _America_, not for the Honour of God, or as Persons moved and merited thereunto by servent Zeal to the True Faith, nor to promote the Salvation of their Neighbours, nor to serve the King, as they falsely boast and pretend to do, but in truth, only stimulated and goaded on by insatiable Avarice and Ambition, that they might for ever Domineer, Command, and Tyrannize over the _West- Indians_, whose Kingdoms they hoped to divide and distribute among themselves. Which to deal candidly in no more or less intentionally, than by all these indirect wayes to disappoint and expel the Kings of _Castile_ out of those Dominions and Territories, that they themselves having usurped the Supreme and Regal Empire, might first challenge it as their Right, and then possess and enjoy it. Everybody knows the story of Martin Guirre, certainly because somebody died of impersonating somebody. The real Martin Daguerre before he was found missing was also peaceful. He married Bertrande de Rols who came from an affluent family. They only had one child. After he was found missing, somebody appeared and claimed to be Martin and because he knew a little about the real Martin’s life, he didn’t have a hard time convincing people that he is the missing Martin Daguerre. To cut the story short, his impersonation started to smell foul when he tried to sue Guerre’s uncle so that he can have the full inheritance of the real Martin’s father. Suspicion arose from the Guerre’s clan and even his wife whom he lived with from the time he started impersonating, also testified against him. It was only until the real Martin appeared in the court, with amputated leg, that the people realized that the guy was indeed an impostor. He was sentenced by the court and was hanged just in front of the real Martin’s House. The two stories mentioned, the first being the longer one, only tell us that there are different masks in this world that may or may not be removed. It takes more than just a tedious task from the people to remove these masks which hinder others to see the real plan or the real agenda. If there is one thing certain, the use of the mask usually is for a purpose that is not tolerable by man. Those people who are affected by these agenda are the only ones that can unmask a particular individual or conquering group. The second point in this story is the presence of the ‘other’ which was extended in the status of the fake Martin as he tried to become somebody else just to belong, yet found himself different and unaccepted by the group where he wanted to belong. Both stories present to us an almost parallel situation in two different worlds. Both have something to stretch out. The otherness of an individual or a group, the mask that mostly covers individuals or a dominating group, and finally, the crisis for authority being one and the same in both stories can all be a clue to what people should really seek for, a critical mind that will protect man from being dominated by abusive dreams and selfish acts. Once entered by greedy ideas, an individual becomes a fiend that no one but himself can save. Source de las Casas, Bartolome. A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies. 1992. Davis,Natalie Zemon, The Return of Martin Guerre, Harvard University Press, 1983. Read More