Filling in the Gaps-A Whole New Level

We have talked a few times over the course of the semester about the ways in which authors either do or don’t fill in the gaps about questions readers might have.  For example, Cook and Cook don’t go into the story of Dona Beatriz in Good Faith and Truthful Ignorance.  Perhaps this was because they didn’t have any sources that could prove useful in such a task.  As we have mentioned, Natalie Zemon Davis, on the other hand, fills in the gaps by looking at what might have been typical for someone living in a certain time period.  Camilla Townsend is certainly willing to attempt to fill in the holes of her narrative where a dearth of information has provided challenges.  One example is the way in which Malintzin goes into detail about what the childbirth process could have been like for Malintzin.  Even if one might feel as though Townsend goes a little over the top in this part of the book, one can’t help but appreciate Townsend’s style.  Part of what makes Malintzin’s Choices such a great book is the way that Townsend brings Malintzin to life and convey to the reader the way in which Malintzin had a certain degree of agency.  Even though it is impossible to write a typical biography of Malintzin since she left no written documents, Townsend is able to effectively examine what we do know about the situations in which Malintzin found herself and explore the different possibilities that Malintzin faced.