Kammala wannan jumla: MacLeish ya yarda cewa ya yi amfani da Nazi da ake tsammani na Austria, Anschluss, a matsayin tushen aikin. A cewar MacLeish, an yi wahayi da wasan kwaikwayon ne daga birnin Aztec na Tenochtitlan, wanda ya ziyarta a 1929, kuma musamman
cin nasarar birnin ba tare da juriya ba ta Hernán Cortés a 1521, kamar yadda mai nasara Bernal Díaz del Castillo ya bayyana. Ya kuma yi amfani da tatsuniyar Aztec da ta yi magana game da wata mata da ta tashi daga matattu don ta annabta faɗuwar Tenochtitlan kafin a ci birnin.