Post for the Week of September 30

This week, I really enjoyed our two readings by Cortes and Diaz. To me, it was very interesting reading two different viewpoints of the same events. It seemed to demonstrate what we talked about earlier this year with differing perspectives or realities based on the same occurrences. Diaz and Cortes seem to be living in two different realities. Diaz's reality appears to be that of more a layman. He is focused more on the day to day aspect of the trip, as evidenced by his recounting the exact numbers of men, and his long story describing how they finally met Aguilar. He seems to have no illusions about how hard the fighting with the indigenous is, and the difficulties the expedition encounters on every turn. Cortes, however, seems to be caught up in some grandiose, ideal expedition. He seems to brush over important make-or-break aspects, like having Malintzin as an interpreter, and focus more on the wealth he found and his power over the natives. This may be because he was writing to the emperor, but he seems to be focused on "look at how much gold there is" or "looks at this kingdom I conquered" rather than "look at how hard this fighting is" or "look at all my wounded men struggling through that swamp as I ride around on a horse." These differing viewpoints on the same events really showed to me how perspective changes can change one's reality to be different from that of someone else.