This essay aims to closely read The Sea of Lentils and The Four Voyages of Columbus to critically analyze how the former engages and rejects extant principles of rhetorical strategies on conquest (Benítez Rojo; Columbus). The conquest principles of possession and the nobility of purpose are first introduced and discussed in the context of Columbus’s text. Benítez Rojo portrays indigenous population as resistant and questions common colonial justifications, thus successfully rejecting both principles of conquest. Specifically, rhetorical strategies such as appealing to emotions of despair, language, and image tropes are used by Benítez Rojo to invalidate these principles.
The Four Voyages of Columbus describe the colonial exploits reported back to the Portuguese and Spanish royalty. It presents Columbus’s colonial exploits as a nearly effortless and self-righteous process. The first principle of conquest invoked is the possession of land, resources, or people with ease. Columbus describes countless supplies of the land, which could be taken with “no opposition” from the locals (2). Columbus seems to mock the local population for taking “even the pieces of the broken hoops of the wine barrels” (8). He further portrays himself in a morally superior stand: when islanders “like savages, gave what they had… it seemed to me to be wrong, and I forbade it” (Columbus 8). Moreover, Columbus feels more entitled to these possessions than the locals since those are “things they have in abundance, and which are necessary to us” (8). The conquest principle of possession works as a tool for establishing the ‘rightful’ order of things, reinforcing the colonialists’ superiority. By portraying natives as naïve and unpossessive, the author justifies taking their belongings.
The second principle of conquest is the strategically demonstrated nobility of purpose. Aside from repossessing the ‘much-needed’ natural resources of the colonized lands, Columbus also discusses at length the greatness of converting so many “savages” “to our holy faith,” expressing that the locals should be grateful to be converted to Christianity (18). Moreover, Columbus highlights that possession was taken “for their highness” (2). This principle works by establishing a double standard for gaining and losing possession of personal belongings, lands, and even people. Ultimately, it justifies the exploitation and cruelty perpetrated by the colonizers.
The second discussed text is The Sea of Lentils by Benítez Rojo, which describes four intertwined stories of colonization and the slave trade. According to Columbus, the locals’ ease and willingness to submit to the colonizers are not present in the author’s description. While characters like Antón Babtista seemingly embrace the conquest mentality, the narrative portrays a gloomier reality. Most locals “could not be persuaded to join,” so, eventually, some were taken “by force” (Benítez Rojo 52). In contrast to painting locals as cheerful and naïve ‘savages,’ the author uses language tropes to highlight their “scarcely [to] be believed” cruelty and boldness that leads them to “neither surrender nor admit defeat” (Benítez Rojo 53; 57). The conquest principle of possession is manipulated through the unequivocal determination of the indigenous groups to defend themselves and their land. Therefore, Columbus’s claim of effortless possession is rejected by this narrative.
Consequentially, doubt, uncertainty, and fear increasingly penetrate the main characters’ minds. Benítez Rojo implements the tropes like images of Antón Babtista’s island struggles: “feet moldering with sores and chiggers” and “loins festooned with pustules” (Benítez Rojo 77). Further, the author uses specific language and appeals to emotions to twist the words ‘lord’ and ‘master’ that usually signify the superiority of the colonizers. After describing his suffering, Antón Babtista refers to himself as a “lord and master of unhappy Indians, lord of fear, lord of iron and bad dreams, master of death” (Benítez Rojo 77). Moreover, king Philip fearfully orders that “no one born there in those savage lands would ever hold a high position” (Benítez Rojo 157). Characters do not know whether their actions are dignified, “whether [they are] doing right or wrong, whether [they] should spare a life or cut it down” (Benítez Rojo 70). Therefore, the narrative rejects the conquest principle of the strategically demonstrated nobility of purpose. In contrast to Columbus’s letters, the author does not justify colonial exploitation and oppression by showing a lack of nobility and doubt.
Columbus’s notion of easy possession is effectively twisted to its direct opposite in The Sea of Lentils. The indigenous people’s determination to resist and defend their land defies the colonial rhetoric of taking something because colonizers ‘need it more.’ Moreover, Benítez Rojo successfully rejects the principle of the strategically demonstrated nobility of purpose by persistently showing cruelty, suffering, hesitation, and prejudice. Antón Babtista embodies an ultimate conquistador, obsessed with getting rich, accompanying Columbus on his Hispaniola voyage. However, as the journey unravels, his enthusiasm and self-righteousness dissipate under the pressure of circumstances. Overall, by showing colonizers’ undignified deeds, who are not even sure if the pursuit is worth it, the author successfully conveys that colonial possession should not be justified and prioritized over indigenous possession.
The rhetoric of conquest descriptions of The Sea of Lentils is manipulated differently compared to the first letter of Columbus. Specifically, Benítez Rojo’s narrative does not strive to disregard indigenous people and portray colonizers rightfully and effortlessly claiming their lands. Rather, it exposes the flaws of conquistadors’ character, a far-from-cheerful response from locals, and describes the conquest’s political, logistical, and mental struggles. By challenging the usual narrative of the easy and nobly justified invasions, Benítez Rojo fundamentally changes how the colonization process is portrayed in literature.
Works Cited
Benítez Rojo, Antonio. Sea of Lentils. Translated by James Maraniss, University of Massachusetts Press, 1990.
Columbus, Christopher. The Four Voyages of Columbus: A History in Eight Documents, Including Five by Christopher Columbus, in the Original Spanish, With English Translations. Edited & translated by Jane Cecil, Dover Publications, Inc., 1988, pp. 1-19.