What is most interesting to me as we wrap up the entirety of “The First New Chronicle and Good Government” is the intended effect and audience of this piece of writing. While Don Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala addresses “Good Christians”, “Bad Christians”, and Christians of every other kind, his main audience is the Spanish King Philip III. While cognizant of this, it is also important to acknowledge the fact that the attitude and choice in wording towards the Christian citizens is sometimes a bit… aggressive, to say the least. This is an interesting choice on his behalf, as he is trying to balance pleasing Spanish royalty and also criticize the Spanish colonial society.

For example, corregidores were local administrative figures for the Spanish judicial system. These were colonial figures placed inside of the pueblos that many Indians were apart of. He immediately rips into these figures, calling them “absolute rulers with little fear of justice or God” (p. 167), however these figures are directly sat under the seat of the oh-so Holy King Philip III. In this way, it is impossible to imagine how his construction of the King as a mighty, holy figure can be separated from his disgust with Spanish colonial civilization at all.

However, I think that he attempts to diverge these two concepts in their relation to former Inca leadership. The Andean leader, Topa Inca Yupanqui, was the king throughout the natural kingdom of Indian and Inca country. Throughout the book, Guaman Poma is emphasizing this culture and hierarchy’s importance and significance, especially in respect to religion and government. It is then pertinent to note how Guaman Poma regards Topa Inca Yupanqui’s title as having passed on to “our lord, His Sacred Catholic Majesty king Don Philip III of Spain”. In this way, he is connecting Spanish Catholic royalty with Andean Inca royalty, without the crossing over of all the minor political details. This is the forethought with which Guaman Poma then goes on to absolutely roast the hell out of the rest of the governmental policies of colonial Spain enforced on ‘Latin America’.

So sure, he tried to tip toe and flatter his way into the king’s lap, so that they could gossip about all the king’s horses and men who sucked. Yet this does still leave a cognitively dissonant gap in the choices of tone between addressing “your sacred royal Catholic Majesty” (p. 3) and “heathen idolaters” (p. 291). What I wonder, in the midst of all of his political mind-mapping and manifesto making, was how he expected his voice to come off to the king? Was he aiming for confidence, with the regality of an Andean nobleman putting forth his ideas? If so, I’m not sure promising to kiss the hands and feet of the king was the most cocky move. Was he aiming for humility? Because he sure didn’t reach that either.