Cabeza De Vaca

Time and time again the lessons we learn are through the mistakes of others. As in the case of Cabeza de Vaca, the 16th century Spanish explorer who set out soon after Christopher Columbus’s failure to win the approval of the English crown, sometimes all you need is someone to fall so they may be your stepping stone. Guessing from the previous statement, however; we can naturally assume that Cabeza de Vaca was no way a candid spirit. While the Spanish explorer may have had some difficult times during his expedition, his concluding goal was to emerge from his expedition with no blame attached to him. As explicit in his writing, the reader will discover that Cabeza knew the impact of his words and his ability to use his diction to its maximum potential.

Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca had an eloquent way of playing with words to captivate pathos from those who would later read it. He is one who certainly seeks to please and evoke plausible imagery. For example, as he describes his travels throughout the newfound land in which they “went naked through” and “underwent fiercer hunger than among the Avavares.” De Vaca uses plain yet intricate diction to rivet the imagination and perhaps form a sort of sympathy from the reader. Having probably heard of Columbus’s disgrace, he may not have wanted to make the same mistake as Columbus and therefore kept his letters more to the details of what he was discovering than to what he was bringing back. As he wrote, “ambition and action” is his “advantage” over Columbus. These words written by De Vaca are meant to remind his Majesty of the disgrace Columbus brought. In other words he wants to prove that he is the complete opposite of Columbus and that he is not driven by aspiration, but only to please magnificent king by forgetting his own convenience in exchange. He offers humility so upon returning safely to Spain, he would probably be esteemed and awarded in some way for his effort.

Knowing that his Majesty was a strongly faith based catholic Christian; De Vaca is true to mention how he “kept [his] hopes in God.” Also, De Vaca sees himself as a “royal behalf” of the Spanish crown for surely he believed that even if he was humble to admit it; his years of exploration would come to some avail. It is therefore proof that his choice of words and the ways in which he paints the picture of his travel shows his excellent ability to capture pathos through use of imagery. As a result, this is a powerful display of the significant of words if properly used.