The Broken Spears Essay Example

The Broken Spears written by Miguel Leon-Portilla is a book that goes into depth about the conquest of Mexico starting in 1519 from an Aztec point of view. The book discusses everything in depth about what occurred during this time period of the conquest. It discusses when the Aztecs first take news of the arrival of Cortez and the Spaniards comparing it to small floating mountains off the Mexican coast, all the way to the revolt of the Aztec people that lead to the end of the Aztec civilization. This book portrays the story from an Aztec point of view so it is clear that the author is on the Aztecs side.

Leon-Portilla based the stories told in the book upon old writings of actual Aztec people who survived the Spanish massacres. Many of the people who were in these writings were: priest, wise men and simply regular people. Most history of the Aztec empire are based of Spanish accounts of the events. this is why I feel this story is so special because it represents a realistic point of view coming from Aztec survivors. This story portrays the Spanish as horrible people. It shows the Spanish exploiting the Aztecs and even killing them for what they would like to say no reason. Simply it depicted how the Spanish would come through and brutally murder everyone . An example is when the Spanish sealed off the entrances to the palace so that no one could leave, then went through murdering anyone in sight.

These documents differ from the arguments made in the book in regards to the American Exchange greatly. In the book they don’t depict the American Exchange negatively at all. Christopher Columbus is seen as a hero and everything is glorified. In The Broken Spears Leon-Portilla depicts the Spaniards actions as horrid and brutal. I think they are depicted as complete opposites in the context of each