Book review on Song of the Hummingbird Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Book review on Song of the Hummingbird - Essay Example s set about sixty years after the fateful intrusion of Tenochtitlà ¡n-Mexico by Cortes, which earmarks the inevitable fall of curtains on the life of Huitzitzilà ­n. At the time of narration, she is a guest at a Catholic monastery in Mexico City where she wants to make her final confession. A young priest by the name of Father Benito is sent to attend her in order to absolve her from her sins before dying. However, the flow of the story develops into a clash of titans, Huitzitzilà ­n and father Benito, where it can no longer be termed as a confession. In her wisdom, Huitzitzilà ­n knows very well that the recount of her story cannot go undocumented and therefore she creates a platform to tell her side of story. Her perspective of Mexico conquest is an eye witness version from a conquered person’s point of view. There are numerous humorous and captivating scenes in the book, such as the lengthy religious debate between the priest and the protagonist. In this debate, Huitzitzilà ­n talks of events like Montezuma, the women’s cleansing ceremony performed at Tonantzin’s Temple among many others. The author uses the fictional autobiography of Huitzitzilà ­n in these scenes and many others to disparage European exploitation of the Mexico people. On his part, the priest is able to listen to Huitzitzilà ­n confessions to the point where he cannot take in the details of the stories and runs in protest and ashamed. The author appears to be asking readers to imagine how Mexico would have been in the present day if its culture had not been destroyed. However, this novel does not revolve around destruction but rather it is about the survival of the indigenous people and their culture. Many novelists in US have been in the habit of using poetry and narrations to reconstruct the almost forgotten histories of the indigenous people. However, this novel is cleverly informed by intricately interweaving fiction and historical facts which converge at some point in time. As much as