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1. What are the reasons behind Mustafa's desire to record his own account of the expedition led by Senor Narvaez?

In the Prologue of The Moor's Account, Mustafa lays out his intentions for making his own record of the events that occurred in the place deemed by the Castilians as La Florida. Mustafa states that this is a necessary step, since the Joint Report delivered to the Audiencia of Santo Domingo had been deeply corrupted by both outside influence and private greed.

2. In what way does Lalami include the theme of invisibility in the Prologue of the novel?

When Mustafa discusses his reasons for making his own account of the events he recalls occurring during the expedition led by the governor, Señor Narvaez, he invokes the ideas of invisibility and marginalization. He says that though he endured every moment of torment and tribulation, just as the Castilians had, he was "never called upon to testify to the Spanish Viceroy" about the "journey among the Indians" (3). In this way, Lalami sets up the narrative as one aimed at giving a voice to the type of expedition member who was never given an official (or unofficial) voice at the time of the record creation.

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