The Role of Signs for the Indians, and Consequently, the Spanish

             When Todorov poses the question “did the Spanish defeat the Indians by means of signs”, there arise multiple interpretations of the answer. I believe Todorov takes the affirmative in response to his own question, stating that a significant contribution to the conquest of the Indians was Indian’s strong belief in signs.

            This belief stems primarily from fervent religious following by the Indians—at birth, infants are taken to have their fortune divined, and the results of such conjecture are taken literally. Therefore, although the predictions may not have been realistic to begin with, the fact that the Indians take it to be the truth dictates that their lives will consequently fall into the foretold path. If you believe strongly enough that something will happen to you, or that your life will cumulate in a particular fashion, chances are, you will subconsciously cause the events or things to occur. Thus, the Indians thought their lives to be preordained, and that they had little (if any) free will. This aspect of the Indian character made their conquest far simpler. They saw this conquest merely as another aspect of their life they were powerless to control, dictated by the gods. If there was no sign sent to the Indians to drive out and attempt to rebel against the Spaniards, it must be destiny that the Spaniards came and conquered.

            Another aspect of the advantage of signs for the Spaniards is that Indians relied on the natural world to draw influence and counsel. Spaniards, on the contrary, relied on communications from man to man, as stated on page 69. This difference of communication meant that the Indians and Spaniards searched for signs and guidance in two completely separate, and sometimes contradictory, places. If, for example, an Indian saw the lunar eclipse, they would assume its relevance, and treat it as a sign to interpret to whatever situation was at hand. Spaniards would realize the eclipse was not an earth-shattering event, confer with their fellow Europeans, and perhaps enjoy watching the Indians become terrified at the event.

            While these are just two specific examples of sign interpretation’s benefit for the Spanish (perhaps even unbeknownst to them), the overall result of the Indian’s reliance on signs and the arcane resulted in their defeat. A defeat that was most likely seen as merely another event in life, a product of fate’s plan.