The Fortune Teller

"Hamlet  observes  to Horatio  that  there  are  more  things  in  heaven  and  earth  than are dreamt of in our philosophy. This was the selfsame explanation that was given by  beautiful Rita  to  her  lover,  Camillo,  on  a  certain  Friday  of November, 1869,when  Camillo  laughed  at her  for  having gone  the  previous  evening,  to  consult a fortune-teller." 

The first time reading through this wonderful short story I laughed. The second time I asked myself: "what is the point of this story." Short stories generally convey a message or moral, so I began analyzing the text to see what meaning it had for me. Although there may be professional literature on the meaning of the fortune teller, it conveyed a special meaning to me. The meaning of the short story is the power of the brain in our lives. 

At the beginning of the story Camillo laughs at Rita for her belief in the fortune teller. The narrator explains that he is not superstitious and does not believe in religion. It even says that he does not believe because he chooses not to. This makes me think that his mind convinced him not to believe in religion. 

The next example is when he receives the note from his friend Villela. Machado beautifully describes Camillo pain staking nerves while wondering what the note is about. His brain immediately analyzes the note and warns him. His mind tells him that he asks him to come to his home instead of his office. It also tells him that the note is written from a wobbly hand indicating that his friend is under stress. Camillo immediately begins to worry and wonder what to do. Machado does a wonderful job of capturing the human thought process as Camillo thinks of whether he should even be worried, buy a gun to protect himself, or even go at all. Not only is the brain incredible enough to analyze what was really happening but it then it completely changes his life. On his way to his friends house everything and everyone looks bleak. Just reading the story makes you anxious for Camillo. Then everything changes as he stops in front of the fortune tellers house. 

Camillo believes everything that the fortune teller tells him although she doesn't actually predict anything real. Leaving the fortune tellers house Camillo convinces himself that everything is okay. His mind immediately changes everything around him. He suddenly sees that everyone is happy. He even realized that the note sent for him was very friendly and that he has nothing to worry about. His mind convinces him that the fortune teller must know that nothing will happen because she predicted everything else. Camillo then goes happily to his own death believing that everything will be okay because his mind convinced him of that. 

Jose Maria Velasco

What was Jose Maria Velascos idea of Mexico? By studying the detail in his paintings perhaps I can answer that question. 

First, the beauty of the landscape jumps out. Most Americans that have not been to Mexico think that it  is only a hot desert wasteland. Velasco wants to show the rest of the world this isn't true. A beautiful blue lake gleams off to the left. Mountain ranges can be seen in the distance. There are even some capped in snow. The land, although not a forest, is green, covered in grass and bushes. A vast blue sky shared with fluffy clouds caps off the scenery. Velasco obviously believes that Mexico is beautiful and expresses it through his painting. 

Second, is the idea that Mexico is a distant  mysterious exotic land. You might ask yourself: "how can he possibly think that this painting is exotic?"  Like I mentioned earlier small details elude to Velascos vision of Mexico. In this painting and several others he shows a road nearby stretching off into the distance and disappearing into a far away unseen city. This detail suggests the idea that Mexico is a foreign and undiscovered land to the rest of the world. If the long road to Mexico is only traveled down one will discover the beauty of Mexico City or other parts of the Country. As technology has improved from the 1800's this idea that Velasco painted about so many years ago has been realized by travelers from all around the world, making Mexico one of the most touristic countries in the world.

Third, Velasco was not only proud of modern Mexico and it's technological advances but also of it's heritage. The painting below is very similar to the one above. In the distance tiny puffs of clouds can be seen. These clouds represent a newly built train. Velasco is obviously very proud of these technological advances otherwise he would not have included such a small detail. In the painting above a cactus and eagle can be seen. This is a representation of the Aztec vision and founding of Tenochititlan. Through all of his paintings Velasco shows his pride of his heritage and also his current country with small details that most may not see. 

Jose Maria Velasco was a proud Mexican painter. Proud of his heritage. Proud of his Mexico's progress. Proud of his beautiful country. He expressed and shared what he knew to be true of Mexico with the rest of the world in his beautiful paintings.

Torture of Cuauhtemoc by Leandro Izaguirre.

This is one of my favorite paintings from the reading this week. One of the things that I most amazed about was that it was painted for the Chicago world fair in 1893. Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. I feel that 70 years after gaining their independence Leandro is trying to show to the whole world that Mexicans still have a connection to their roots. The book mentions that it was also a form of rebellion against the corrupt government practices at the time. I imagine that in a time without the communication advantages that we have today (i.e. internet, cell phones, computers etc.) it must have been a striking image to see this painting. I wonder how many people were aware of what had happened several hundred years before. I would bet that paintings like these sparked an interest in not only art but also history.

My favorite part of this painting is the main character Cuauhtemoc. He is tied up and the Spaniards are burning his feet. I love the expression on his face. To me it is not one of pain or suffering. He is staring directly into the face of the Spanish captain with a look of defiance and pride. It helps me to realize how great of a warrior he must have been if hundreds of years later he is still painted with such qualities. The other Indians face breaks my heart. In my opinion his face isn't expressing pain as much as it is an expression of compassion for his warrior leader. It's almost like he is trying to tell his leader to just give in so that the suffering will stop. I also think that it is very interesting that both Indians are being tortured on top of Aztec ruins. In conclusion I loved the manner that the painting shares a little of the history of the conquest. 

The Siege and Fall of Tenochitlan

"The Mexicans have been conquered; we do not know who the conquerors are, but all Mexico City is foul with the odor of dead bodies."

It is hard to imagine what the battle for Tenochitlan was like. Like mentioned in class, it is a difficult and complicated event to study. It must have been extremely difficult for the neighboring tribes and cities to believe that such a great city like Tenochitlan could have fallen. Sadly to the present day all that remains of Tenochitlan is the Templo Mayor in the center of the center. I have had the opportunity to visit the Templo Mayor and see its beauty but unfortunately can only imagine what it must have looked like in it's prime. Hernan Cortes mentions the difficulty of destroying the buildings but that he did it because it hurt the Indians more than the Spaniards.That seems a little obvious. Whether that is true or not no one will ever know.

One of the first pieces of Tenochitlan found
during construction in 1978

What the Templo Mayor was believed
to look like

While studying the conquest of Mexico and the destruction of Tenochitlan I can't help but think poorly of the Spanish conquistadors (as can probably be understood from my 1st paragraph). Reading this last section I realized that the conquest of Mexico probably would not have been possible without the help of other Mexican Indians. Rarely do you hear someone complain about the Indians that assisted in the conquest of Tenochitlan. I am not an expert on the conquest but it appears from our readings that there were thousands of Indians on the Spaniards side and that they suffered much higher causalities than the Spaniards. Why did the Indians help them? What were the Indians offered by the Spaniards? Would the conquest have been possible without the Indians aid? How were the Indians that assisted in the conquest treated by the Spaniards afterwards? There are so many questions that come to mind after learning the Indians role in the conquest. It baffles me to think that so many Indians assisted in what was basically their own conquest. Most of these questions can probably never be answered and the motives of the Indians helping the Spaniards may never be fully understood. Personally it is hard for me to understand how the Indians did not see what was happening (of course hind sight is 20/20). In the end like Dr. Mack loves to say..."it's complicated."