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Common Themes In Cabeza De Vaca's 'The Healers'

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Prompt #1: Cabeza de Vaca Capture, sickness, healing, and rituals are the common themes that surround Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca’s book La Relación. In his short except called “The Healers”, Vaca opens this small section with his escape from Indian captivity and his “healing journey”. After Vaca escapes from the Indians that held him prisoner, he comes across the Avavares Indians, and that is where his story takes off. When Vaca meets the Avavares Indians, he discusses how his fellow traveling companion, Castillo, is asked by the Indians to cure them of a “head ache”. By making the sign of the cross and recommending them to God, the Indians are instantly cured. Later on in the story, Vaca cures another Indian tribe of sickness and even raises one from the dead. These particular examples provide insight into Vaca’s beliefs. For example, Vaca is a Christian, and he is following / playing out events from the bible. When Vaca “raises the Indian from the …show more content…

This is proven when Vaca mocks the Indians for their tribal beliefs. (111) Vaca exclaims, “We laughed very much at those stories, making fun of them, and then, seeing our incredulity they brought to us many of those whom, they said, he had taken, and we saw the scars of his slashes in the places and as they told”. Vaca plays into the tribal practices of curing the Indians, but he puts no stock in any of their beliefs. In so many words, Vaca explains that his Christian beliefs and practices are superior to the Indian’s. (111) Indians do not believe in one God or heaven and hell. Instead, their stories are told by animals, but none of them are a “god”. Demons may pop up in their stories like on page 111. Vaca does play into these stories and proclaim that if they (the Indians) believe in their God, then all will be well. Overall, tribal beliefs do play heavily into Indian society, and Vaca plays into them to

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