This week we spent time discussing the topic of domination and control. The book we read was Bernal Diaz's "The Conquest of New Spain". This book was an ewewitness account of the Spaniards led by Cortez taking control of the Aztecs in search of gold and wealth. Within the text, there are several references to how great and brave the Spaniards were in conquering the Aztecs. I believe that throughout the text it becomes apparent that Diaz's ego is oversized due to his people's succcess in conquering their opponents. I couldn't help draw connections with Diaz's ego and the ego seen in the movies "Wedding Crashers" and "300". In "Wedding Crashers", the characters played by Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn apparently have large egos and are very cocky with their ability to "dominate/conquer" women. And in "300", the soldiers are constantly making jokes to each other while they are slaughtering their foes. In the English version :), the narrator who is a Spartan, comes off as being a bit cocky in his re-telling of the battle.
I guess the point I am trying to make here is that humans seem to have an internal desire to conquer/dominate/take control of other human beings. I am not exactly sure why. Perhaps it is because we are afraid of what is not ours. For example, the Spaniards viewed the Aztecs as a very foreign people, which they were compared to the European society, and perhaps that is why the Spaniards felt the need to conquer the them. Obviously the Spaniards wanted the gold, but there could have been other ways of getting the gold besides conquering a whole civilization. I feel like perhaps the gold was an excuse for wiping out the Aztec civilization. I think the underlying reason to why the Spaniards felt a need to conquer the Aztecs was because of how different they were compared to the European world.
Perhaps the two men in Wedding Crashers felt the need to conquer the opposite sex because women are so different then men. Obviously, there is the pleasure factor that goes along with the womanizing lifestyle but perhaps the underlying reason here is again that the two men, or most men for that matter, are so interested in controlling women is because of their unique differences, physically and mentally.
What do you think about humans want for control? Do they desire to conquer that which is different from them?
Favorite quote:
(Guatemoc surrendering to Cortez)
"I have assuredly done my duty in defence of my city and my vassals, and I can do no more. I am brought by force as a prisoner into your presence and beneath your power. Take the dagger that you have in your belt, and strike me dead immediately" (Pg. 403)
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I think that people are either captivated by what is different than them or they are afraid of it. Sometimes people enjoy this fear factor of uncertainty. On the topic of control, I think people want control because they feel like they are not in control of their own fate so they think they can compensate for this by controlling others. I think it may be possible for people to want to control what is different from them but more importantly I think they just want control in general regardless of what they are controlling...this is a very interested idea that you have suggested though.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of excuses that you bring up. Gold was a great excuse to conquer the Aztec society. They believed that they had a legitimate and rational reason to destroy the Aztec society. We make excuses for everything, "I couldn't come to class because..." "I didn't bring money to pay you back because..." "I was late because..." They are not as serious as destroying a whole society, but still they are excuses and we make excuses for ourselves ever ysingle day.
ReplyDeleteI find the point you brought up about our internal desire to conquer very interesting. I hadn't thought of it as something that is natural. I completely agree though - as a society we strive to be better than others and step on others (figuratively speaking of course) to be better than the rest.