The Conquest Narrative

The story of Cortes and the conquest of the New World has been retold in literature, as well as in popular film. Bernal Diaz Del Castillo's "The True History of the Conquest of New Spain" tells the story of Cortes, the Spanish Captain General, and his determination to capture the new world for himself. The DreamWorks movie "The Road to El Dorado" tells the story of Miguel and Tulio, two stowaways on ships making their way to the new world under the control of Cortes. While the stories differ in many ways, they also show similarities.

In both versions of the story, the Aztecs and the conquistadors are equally fascinated with each other. Diaz mentions resemblance between the Cortes and the Aztec leader, stating, "On account of this resemblance we in the camp called them 'our Cortes' and 'the other Cortes'" (Diaz 43). Later in his telling of the conquest, he describes the conquistadors entrance into the city of mexico: "Wide as though [the road] was, it was so crowded with people that there was hardly room for them all. Some were going to Mexico and others coming away, besides those who had come out to see us, and we could hardly get through the crowds that were there. For the towers and the cues were full, and they came in canoes from all parts of the lake. No wonder since they had never seen horses or men lie us before! With such wonderful sights to gaze on we did not know what to say, or if this was real that we saw before our eyes.  On the land side, there were great cities, and on the lake many more" (Diaz 45). The conquistadors found themselves fascinated with the Aztec culture, even though they were determined to claim the land for their own.

The Aztec people thought that Cortes was an Aztec god returning to earth (Ashworth). Upon accidentally discovering the city of gold, Miguel and Tulio, the main characters of "The Road to El Dorado" realize that the inhabitants of the city think that they are gods returning to earth. Whether or not Cortes knew of the natives thoughts, I do not know. Miguel and Tulio used the knowledge to their advantage, gaining wealth, power, and respect.

In both versions of the story, the greed for gold and personal gain motivate the conquistadors to adventure to the new world. They also desired to claim the new land for their own. The new world was seen as virgin territory, needing to be claimed by man and tamed. This need to conquer virgin land and territory often translated into sexual terms. The Spanish often discussed the new world in female terms. In political cartoons and other illustrations, the new world was illustrated as a naked native woman, ready to be taken by the conquistadors.

Even in the children's film version of the story, the native woman character Chel is portrayed as a highly sexual woman, using her feminine wiles to coerce Miguel and Tulio into taking her with them back to Spain. She uses her body and her femininity to her advantage, even seducing one of the men, who falls in love with her.

Throughout history, the conquest of land has been connected to the conquest of the body. Both gain power for the conquerer. Both minimize the importance and intelligence of the thing that has been conquered. The new world was seen as savage, wild, untamed, and needing to be claimed by a man, just like a virgin native woman.