Who Was More Instrumental in the Conquest and Settlement of Chile, Pedro Valdivia or Ines Suarez?

As written by Isabel Allende, the novel “Ines of My Soul” captures the Spanish Conquest of the South Americas during the early to late 1500’s. In this story of Inés Suárez, an actual historic figure who lived in the early-mid 1500's and one of the founders of Chile, she is a very old woman about to die and is recounting the story of her adventure-filled life to her daughter. She was born into a poor family and spent her childhood in Spain, and eventually made her way to the New World. She lived in Peru for a short period of time and fell in love with Pedro Valdivia. Pedro Valdivia was born into nobility as a hidalgo. Well educated and honorable soldier for the Spanish Army, Pedro goes to the New World in search of fame and adventure. Along his journey he meets Ines and together they fall in love and lead an expedition to Chile to found the colony and the city of Santiago. In addressing the question as to who was more instrumental to the conquest and settlement of Chile during this timeframe, we bring to light both contributions made by both characters, Ines and Pedro. But overall after viewing the contributions made, we see that without the presence of Ines Suarez, this would not have been a successful conquest.

Pedro Valdivia, the gallant and brave soldier known for his masteries in the art of war, is known to be the “brawns” of the operations. He undergoes the journey, despite the known obstacles, to seek fame and a society based on fundamental rules. One without corruption led in the name of Christianity and Spain. Known as a true patriot for his country and a devoted believer to the religion, Pedro is a character of honorable intentions for most part. He is responsible for the success of the conquest of Chile. He prepares and leads the men into battle being responsible for the lives of his men. He is also the main fundraiser for the conquest supplying all equipment, transportation, soldiers, and auxiliary Indians. Also he is the map holder and guide for the