2. Symbolism
■ Aztec symbols served as metalanguage.
■ Anzaldua is attempting to regain her roots/multi dimensional
identity.
■ The Aztec’s writing system was non-alphabetic, instead they
used pictography(symbols).
3. Snake
• Symbolic of waves, inductive
energy, interaction between
natural forces.
• Aztecs understood the waves
that we cannot see, such as
sound waves.
5. Anzaldua’sThoughts
■ “The Catholic and Protestant religions encourage fear and distrust of life and of the body; they
encourage a split between the body and the spirit and totally ignore the soul; they encourage us
to kill off parts of ourselves.” (p.59)
■ “We lose something in this mode of initiation, something is taken from us: our innocence our
unknowing ways, our safe and easy ignorance.” (p.61)
■ The goal of the Aztec conquest of 1519 was to colonize the Indian and Indigenous, Anzualda is
aware of the aftermath of colonization.
■ Thus, she embraces the contradictions of the Aztec culture to better understand herself as an
individual.
