Research Paper On Malinche

Imagine being a vulnerable young girl and being told by your mother that she wanted nothing to do with you.There was nothing you could do about it, but remain obedient. Well that girl was four year old Malinalli, whose father passed away and her mother wanted to forget because she had a new life ahead of her. Malinche is a novel by Laura Esquivel about a young Native American girl who was sold into slavery and through her constant moving she meets the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes and becomes his tongue. Malinalli helps translate crucial information between the Aztec and Spanish conquistadors that eventually leads to the conquest of the Aztec by the Spanish in the 1500’s. While translating Malinalli struggles between wanting to remain

submissive versus being defiant. Like defiance and submission, a binary opposition is a pair of contradicting ideas. In literature, binary opposition, like Malinalli struggle between remaining submissive and wanting to be defiant, are positioned against each other until it is clear which is the supreme idea. The story of Malinalli is the story of submission versus defiance where defiance ultimately prevails.
In the beginning Malinalli lived through an arduous childhood and her way of coping was to remain submissive instead of resisting for what she wanted.

Starting at a young age Malinalli went through life changing experiences no normal five year old experiences and her silence led everyone to look at her as less than human. After her grandmother passed “her mother took her to the outskirts of town, Malinalli, with her things on her back, clung to her mother’s hand… her mother let go of her tiny grasping fingers, gave her way to her new masters, and turned away (26). If only Malinalli shared with her mother how she felt, her mother would have realized the mistake she was making, but Malinalli chose to be compliant to her new mother’s wishes instead of fighting for what she wanted resulting in what to her seemed like endless suffering. As if losing her family was not enough, Malinalli was in a constant fear that if she made one mistake she would be asked to leave therefore tried to be near perfection. Malinalli was restless since she knew “in the coming days, for the third time in her life, she would experience a complete change. After sunrise, they were going to give her away once again”(17). The fearful girl tried to not be a bother and even “ground corn almost in the dark, lit only by the reflection of the moon”(17). Malinalli wanted a forever home and believed if she remained submissive instead of doing as she pleased, she would not be sent to another family. Alike the love

she had for her grandmother, Malinalli had a deep liking for her corn fields which her obedient nature also led her to lose. The night before she was going to be sent to a new home Malinalli “wept at not being able to protect her harvest… without her care what would become of her cornfield?(18). For Malinalli, her harvest meant everything, but even then she preferred to remain obedient than fighting for what she cared about in order to find stability in her life even if it meant losing her harvest. By following the rules without complaint instead of sharing her feeling to her mother and masters, Malinalli lost her mother, her masters, and even her harvest which was all she had.
Towards the middle of the story, Malinalli with her new life Malinalli found someone she felt could keep her from harm, something she had never felt before. Referring to the conquistador Hernan Cortes “Malinalli felt that this man could protect her…(but) to avoid temptation (Cortes) decided to assign that native woman to Alonso Hernández Portocarrero”(50). Upon receiving the news “Malinalli would have loved to serve directly under Cortes, the main lord, but she didn't complain”(51). Malinalli had not had a male figure to protect her since the passing of her father and finally had the opportunity with Cortes, but Cortes whose to hand her to a different master. Although there was nothing that she would have preferred than working with Cortes she was obedient to his decision and not once complained which led to her eventually working with Cortes and realizing what kind of person he was.Although she was not working alongside Cortes yet, he “accidentally found out that she spoke Nahuatl… (and) asked Malinalli to help him translate… Malinalli found herself trapped in a whirlpool that allowed no escape”(72). The powerful Cortes felt as if he could do with Malinalli as he pleased, Malinalli went along with Cortes’ decision once again and remained submissive to his desires of complete domination although she did not completely agree and although she yet did not know was what would free her. Cortes and Malinalli now shared the majority of their time together which made Cortes’ desires for her grow stronger. Malinalli innocence was taken from her when Cortes “forcefully penetrated her… he did not care if his passion and force hurt Malinalli… (she) remained silent and her black eyes more beautiful than ever, became watery, holding in tears”(78). Cortes once again perceives as if he owned Malinalli, and did with her as he desired without her consent, but she complied without complaint and resulted in their wish of having a son. Malinalli allowed Cortes to be in control over her without her fighting for what was right for her and although she yet did not know it would lead to everything that she ever wanted.
At the end, Malinalli was now in the hands of new rulers but her life was no longer going to be like before and she would make sure of that.

Malinalli lost her family, her harvest, her home and even her identity. Malinalli took pride in the meaning of her name meaning grass but once she arrived with the spanish “Marina, (was) the name they had given her… (meant) she who came from the sea…(Malinalli asked) is that all? (44). Instead of accepting her new simple name she “decided on her own to take control of her new name… it meant that she was assured of eternal life, for water was eternal and it would forever nourish who she was:the braided grass” (45). Malinalli did not settle with her new identity only meaning she came from the water, she knew she was more than that and like she came from water, water was needed for survival therefore Marina was needed in order to live. With her new identity came new powers Malinalli had never experienced. By working with Cortes as his “tongue” Malinalli “ had the power with her words to include others in a common purpose, to clothe them, to shelter them. Or she could exclude them, making them into foes, separate beings with irreconcilable ideas” (66). For the first time in her life “it was she who could decide what was said and what went unsaid, what to confirm and what to deny, what would be made known and what kept secret”(66). Malinalli knew she must remain submissive and translate word to word the message from the Aztecs to the

Spanish, but she decided to rebel and knew the future of other and most importantly herself laid in her hands and she was not going to let her opportunity of freedom pass by. Malinalli and Cortes shared a close relationship that resulted in Martin, the son of Malinalli with Cortes. Having given Cortes what who desperately wanted, a son Malinalli told him“ what I want if for you to awake and accept the opportunity I am offering you to be happy, to be a family, to be one being, (154). Malinalli was ready to start a family with Cortes and their son, for Cortes to leave the fighting aside and focus on them and when it came to her son she was not going to be the submissive Malinalli, but the Malinalli that stands up for what she wants. Despite her not being able to marry Cortes, her desires of marriage led her to find her true love, Juan Jaramillo who loved her until her death. Malinalli changed drastically, she was no longer willing to obey the rules others gave her she spoke up for what she wanted and felt was right which led to the development of her new identity, freedom to have a say in her future, and most importantly the family she longed for.