Before God we are all equally wise and equally foolish. -- Albert Einstein

First of all, sorry to everyone who attended class on Thursday. I did not. However I did read pages 1-52 of the captivity narrative. But more importantly, I read pages 216-235 of the conquest of new Spain. There are some clear similarities between Spanish expansion and British colonialism, but I think the neatest part is that these, along with the French expansion of northern America, are still seen today. I don't know if analogies work to the third degree, but if I may:
U. S. : England :: Mexico : Spain :: Canada : France.
I don't know a lot about French expansion, but taking a brief look at Diaz' work I see a lot of similarity to British colonialism. The Spanish sailed over to a relatively unknown area and were welcomed with gifts and open arms. I haven't gotten to the part where the natives are either wiped out or forced to live by the rules and speak the language of these newcomers, but I'm positive it happens or else the cooks at work would not be telling me to "chinga tu madre." It is also interesting that, aside from the fact that Aztecs see the newcomers as religious figures, the natives treat both the Spanish in Mexico and the British in Wampanoa(?) in relatively humane fashion. Again, I am only pages into the text, but I assume from previous history classes and spoiler alerts that each conquest ends in the near obliteration of an indigenous people. This says a lot about the two cultures (European and Pre-American American) at the time of European expansion. All of the western world (Europe) was involved in a great race to claim as much land as possible as quickly as possible while the American Indians were content to merely feud amongst the tribes they know of. The main difference is that the Europeans knew that Native Americans existed, but the natives knew nothing of Europe. Or rather, the natives never dared to venture outside of the boundaries of land. There is also an extreme overtone of religious righteousness in this text as well as the captivity narrative. Diaz makes it clear that he is very proud of the Spanish conquest when he says on page 216, "What men in all the world have known such daring?" And to go further, 2 pages later he iterates that Cortez speaks of how "we are all brothers" to Montezuma. Again, I don't know the exact result of this conquest but I have heard a few spoilers, and I don't think the Spanish ultimately treat the Aztecs as brothers.

A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor, for it takes irony to appreciate the joke which is on oneself. - Jessamyn West