Who Is Huitzitzilin In Song Of The Hummingbird

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Listening is an important skill that many people take for granted. Listening empathelicay means putting oneself in “someone else’s shoes”. Listening only to get information takes away much of what the speaker is saying, by being able to empathize with someone one is on the same wavelength. In this world, there exist many different cultures and subcultures. In Graciela Limon’s novel, Song of the Hummingbird, Huitzitzilin tells her story as Father Benito listens. She tells Father Benito the native view of what has happened- she tells him things that he has never heard of from his people. Huitzitzilin and Father Benito are products of two different cultures: Aztecs and Spaniards, respectively. Limon portrayed that the Spaniards didn’t …show more content…

Huitzitzilin is a round character, one that is fully developed with many good and bad traits. She is considered a bit sinful for murdering, but yet is considered brave for doing what she believes to be right. At several times in the story, Benito and Huitzitzilin argue about their culture, ‘Montezuma and the High Priest chanted together like this’/ ‘Stop! Stop! Please don’t say any more! You should try to forget those unholy words!’/ ‘Why ‘(27)? . In this quote, Huitzitzilin tries to understand why Benito is against her talking of her gods. She tries to put herself in Benito’s “shoes”, and together they help understand each other’s …show more content…

The feelings and thoughts of the characters are shown in limited omniscient. At one point of the story, Benito says to Huitzitzilin ‘ Senora you must forget the past beliefs and they are gone, never to return. Mores especially those ways belonged to the devil, they are filled with sin”(23). Huitzitzilin immediately becomes infuriated by the sound of this. She doesn’t want to bother telling her story to someone who will not try to understand her culture. The point of view also gives the readers a better insight about the interworking of a character’s mind. For example, when Father Benito is telling Huitzitzilin ‘[t]his is not your sin. It was his alone. I know that in my country a man would have done the same to a woman, but still, it is his sin, and not the woman’s. May I ask you to forgive him now so that the anguish might disappear (53)?. By telling that it is Telta’s sin, his is showing his compassionate side. From his point of view, Huitzitzilin should not blame herself. He attempts to see it for her viewpoint, her culture, to understand why she might blame herself. Therefore, point of view is used to show how people tried to care about one another – regardless of their

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