I, Rigoberta Menchu (cinco)

1.      Famous playwright Henrick Ibsen once articulated, “A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.” How does this quotation apply to what Menchu articulates in chapter12?

Just from the title of this chapter shows that with Menchu’s culture concentrates a lot on community involvement. Everyone in the community plays a vital role in keeping it going. At a young age the children help with the work and help their community. They learn not to mix sexes and develop with other children of the same age. The whole community helps with the upbringing of a child and everyone helps with religious and community matters. They have community meetings to make sure that the area is running smoothly and everyone remains happy. Everyone has to work together and help one another when times get difficult.  

2.      Rigoberta Menchu starts chapter 13 by using this quotation, “I’d always see my mother cry… I was afraid of life and asked myself, what will it be like when I’m grown up?” Why would she speak such words? What special meaning do they have to her and other Guatemalans?

From the time they are little the children are told how much they will suffer in their life. To grow up knowing that your life will never be better than your parents would be a hard idea to come to terms with, and would be a horrible thing to deal with. Her mother would cry for multiple reasons like death, being poor, or other things and there was nothing that could change it or make it better. Life for Rigoberta would always involve working the land and working in the fincas. It is not surprising for anyone in any culture to wonder what their life will be like in the future and be sad about what they expect to happen.  

3.      What part of chapter 14 really stuck out? Why did this part really take grip? Take some time to reflect on what it is that you have learned so far from this book.

The part that surprised me the most in chapter 14 was how horrible the women was and how she said she would pay the one maid more in order to teach her sons how to be sexually active. I found this extremely repulsive and horrible. I have never heard of a MOTHER paying someone to have sex with her sons. This woman was crazy and also very rude. She fed her maids stale beans and tortillas, yet she kept saying how they were eating all the food and didn’t do any work. I got so annoyed at the end when she was finally nice and told Rigoberta how fond she was of her and how she couldn’t leave, however, she got treated worse than the dog.