Song of the Hummingbird

Huitzitzilin, the protagonist of Song of the Hummingbird, emerges not simply as a victim of circumstance, but as a complex and defiant survivor. In her old age, Huitzitzilin’s body bears the marks of her long and arduous life. Her skin is described as “brittle and transparent” (11). The most striking feature in her “small, skeletal” face is her one empty eye socket—a “darkened hollow marked with scars” (11)—which is a physical testament to past traumas. Though physically a “frail woman” in her old age, Huitzitzilin possesses a fierce determination to reclaim her life story and ensure that the history of her people survives.

Born into Mexica nobility, Huitzitzilin first recounts an intense love affair with her cousin Zintle, which continued despite her arranged marriage to an older councilman, Tetla. In a desperate act of self-protection, she aborted her first pregnancy to preserve her and Zintle’s well-being against Tetla’s rage, praying to never become pregnant with her husband’s child since she found Tetla repulsive. When describing how Tetla sexually assaulted her on their wedding night, Huitzitzilin speaks of herself in the third person, in a detached tone; this underscores the trauma she has endured. Tetla’s brutal assault left her physically and emotionally broken, but from the depths of this despair, a spark of defiance ignited.