Blog Post Week 13

On page, 62 Todorov poses the question, "Did the Spaniards defeat the Indians by means of signs?" Based on the textual evidence presented within The Conquest of America, I would argue that while signs played the most significant role in their defeat. Aztec reliance on omens and signs creates a gap in action as Todorov states, "The Aztecs cannot conceive and do not understand the total war of assimilation the Spanish are waging against them; for them, war must be ended by a treaty establishing the amount of tribute to be paid the victor by the vanquished. Before winning the battle, the Spaniards had already won the decisive victory, which consisted in imposing their own type of war; their superiority was henceforth no longer in question" (Todorov ). The inability to adapt to the shifting pattern of communication and war due to the importance of signs leads to their downfall. Part of this relies on their heightened spirituality surrounding omens and prophecies. As each empire constructed their prediction of invaders, they inherently de-sensitized themselves to their own destruction. Not to say that any of the Spaniard's actions were through their fault, but rather that the Aztec's unwillingness or inability to adapt to left them handicapped to any form of invasion.

The Aztec tradition remained static and eventually played into the hands of Spaniard advances. In a way, their dedication to cultural traditions betrays them in the end. While many of their traditions are meant to project a heightened sense of power, such as their battle cries or the extravagant armor of leaders, they emphasize their vulnerability. Having never fought against forces as supported and capable as the Spaniards, the Aztec had no procedure set in place for times of crisis. Because of this, there are no other options available to them other than following past precedent. Todorov highlights this reliance by stating, "They are the only ones to act in this situation; the Aztecs seek only to maintain the status quo, they are content to react. That it should be the Spaniards who have crossed the oceans to find the Indians and not the converse, already heralds the result of the encounter; the Aztecs no longer have no further expansionist designs in the Americas" (Todorov 110). Aztec tradition, acted out by Montezuma, became insignificant when facing Spanish goals of expansion. History often teaches us that within the context of the pre-colonial era, there existed a mentality of "conquer or be conquered." Following this line of thought, the Aztec's lack of ambition in fighting the Spaniards created an environment in which they lost the battle before it even began.

Signs also played a crucial role in the defeat of Aztec culture with the manipulation of religious values on Cortes's part. Participating in Aztec religious functions shows a deep understanding and manipulation of signs on the Spaniard's side.  The exploitation of religious myth opened the door to Spanish domination with the already established belief of Quezacoatl's return to the empire. Todorov uses this example of exploitation to further his argument that signs were the deciding factor in Aztec defeat by stating, "This is because the legend's functioning is profitable on every level: Cortes can thus claim a legitimacy among the Indians; further, he affords them a means of rationalizing their own history: otherwise his coming would have no meaning, and we can suppose that their resistance to it would have been much more worse" (Todorov 119). This use of religious manipulation further plays into the idea that signs affected Aztec's unwillingness to take a harsher stance on Spaniard advances. While it is essential to acknowledge that many factors played a role in the destruction of Native culture in North America, the manipulation of Aztec signs by the Spaniards played the most significant part. The Aztecs were not only victims of European expansionist ambitions but also of their own culture. The inability to create adaptable courses of action and lines of communication ultimately led to the domination of European within the New World. Cultural stagnation played hand in hand with Cortes's ability to play into Montezuma's idealizations created an environment vulnerable to invasion.