King for a Day

The Feathered Serpent by Scott O'Dell
Reviewed by Patrick Hitchins

Imagine being a shipmate on a large vessel with never ending amounts of dirty wooden decks. To earn your trip to the new world you have to wash decks with a scrubber the size of a toothbrush and you are assigned the task of filleting and cleaning fish. After a furious and dangerous storm, you find yourself on the sands of an island. Suddenly, a group of Mayan Indians seize you and take you to their city. When you pass people in the city they bow down to you proclaiming you Kukulcan, the Mayan God. After a long and leisurely walk you are taken to the largest temple in the city. Instead of going into a prison cell you arrive in a large room filled with endless varieties of foods. In The Feathered Serpent by Scott O' Dell, Julian Escobar has all the experiences of being a hard-worked shipmate one moment and then a king and god of a vast Mayan community the next moment. In the course of his numerous historical experiences Julian has to change and adapt in many ways.

Although it may seem fun or easy physically to go from a hard-worked shipmate one day, to a served king and god the next, it is no easy task for the mental side of a person. On the first day of his rule Julian asks himself many questions, "Whom did I rule ? Would I rule the lords and elders and hundreds of priests? If so, how? Was my power endless, limited, religious or secular?" (p.19) When he becomes king, Julian has to adjust from the mentally easy jobs of pushing a brush back and forth to the job of making sure there was enough food raised from the harvest, and keeping the city safe from invaders. Thus, Julian changes dramatically throughout the book from being an ordered shipmate to being a king and leader of thousands of people.

Not only does this book provide great examples of character change, but it also incorporates the main character, Julian, in many historic events which have changed the civilization of this world forever. One historic event that Julian is involved in is the capture of the Azteca city of Tenochitlan by Hernan Cortes.

Julian decides to travel to the city of Tenochitlan in order to learn from the emperor Moctezuma how to organize his city better, and how to conquer other vassal states and keep them in subjection. When Julian arrives in the city Cortes has already sent letters to Moctezuma stating that he comes in peace and in the name of King Carlos and Jesus Christ. Although there are many myths about how Moctezuma discovers that he will be defeated by Cortes, O'Dell illustrates a dream Moctezuma has. In this dream Moctezuma catches a bird of many colors with eyes that show an image of armies of pale-colored men riding on deer with spears and muskets. Following this dream, Julian and his guide decide to run away from the walls but are caught by Cortes' army on the outside of the city. They demand information on what treasures Tenochitlan has. Julian is forced to tell Cortes of the gold and beautiful things that lie in Tenochitlan. Upon arriving in the vast Azteca city, Cortes talks with Moctezuma, commanding him to come with him and his army for five days or pay the price of death. After a great amount of resistance Moctezuma agrees to go to Cortes' campsite. Following his stay with Cortes, Moctezuma comes back to his throne, telling his people not to fight Cortes and that he comes in peace; two days following this speech Moctezuma mysteriously dies. After Moctezuma's death Cortes and his army steal the city's gold and escape that night. The next morning the people of Tenochitlan discover the gold is missing and kill most of Cortes' army, but Julian and his guide manage to escape back to their Mayan city.

Overall, The Feathered Serpent by Scott O'Dell is exciting and puts the main character, Julian, in many unusual roles where he is forced to change and adapt. This book is also great for anyone who wants to learn more about a very important time in history without having to read several boring history books.

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