To start with, the story “And Here is the Beginning of the Conception of Humans” the writer makes an effort to explain the origin of human beings and why humans bear children. It details about the source of the human flesh and how individuals such as the Maker and the Modeler spent time thinking how to form a human flesh. The story seeks human identity by starting with the first people that were modeled. This way, it is possible for the reader and the writer to appreciate the progress made by humans in filling the world and in forming different cultures. Identity enables one to appreciate the developments made thus far due to the inventions that human beings have made since they were modeled.
Identity helps one to appreciate his or her origin. From the story about the beginning of conception among human beings, they thanked the Maker and the Modeler after they were made, and this created a perfect understanding of their surrounding in them (3). Identity creates awareness and one always feels in the right place whenever their identities can be associated with those of a particular group or groups. The man is happy after seeing the woman and marvels at her nature. Even after their knowledge and understanding is reduced as well as their vision, they still feel in the right group, as these are people they can identify with. After women are made for them, they seem to rejoice even more. After the sacrificers and women are made, the Quiche people seem to be satisfied and to be proud of their tribe and identity.
In the story “New Spain”, the Spaniards identify themselves in groups of people from Spain. The Spaniards seem to have established a common way of causing terror in the people of the territories they conquered. The Spaniards are determined to massacre anybody they see as different from them due to their identity. Here, race is taking a great toll in defining the identity of a person. Since the subjects of the Spanish acts are not of the same race and origin, they are not spared but butchered and murdered mercilessly. The Spaniards seem to have developed a way of identifying themselves from the rest and then killing others who are of different culture from them. The writer likes to identify with the happenings of the time by indicating that he was informed by a third party. Therefore, the information he is giving could be true or distorted but the fact remains, he is seeking identity in the story.
The people from Mexico City, Cholula and the rest of the country also have their identity. After witnessing the barbaric massacre of their people by the Spaniards, they decided to take up arms and fight them to protect their territories. Though many innocents had been killed for nothing by the Spaniards, they decided to retaliate to safeguard their country. Through this union, they managed to chase away the Spaniards from their locality and many of them died in the fight. Therefore, people from the local Mexico are dedicated to safeguard their territories as they feel they are one and the same as opposed to the invaders who are from a different country.
In “How the men were separated from the women”, it is evident that gender can be used to define a person’s identity. Here, women and men are seen to have different identities. For example, when women went away leaving children and men, the children cried for milk and men could not give it to them. Only women can do that and therefore they can be given that identity. In this community, the work of men is to get herbs for cleaning bodies as seen in the Chapter II. The Indians identify with this culture.
In conclusion, it can be seen that individuals seek the identity of groups and regions from where they come from. It is possible for a person to have different social identities. For example, a person may identify with a race and at the same time associate with gender. These are two social identities that a single person can belong. As have been seen from the stories, the issue of identity features in a major way and can be used to define the way a certain group of people conducts themselves. People seek their identity to have a bearing of life. A person without identity could have a rather boring and difficult life.
Bibliography
Arrom. (1988). Fray Ramon Pane: Recording the Taino Customs and Beliefs. Athena Review, 1(3).
The relacion of Fray Ramon Pane. (n.d.). Retrieved from smu: http://faculty.smu.edu/bakewell/BAKEWELL/texts/panerelacion.html
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