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 chapter 12?

One of the most interesting things that I have learned about Guatemala from Rigoberta Menchu is that the sense of community is very strong. In this chapter she talks about how everybody works together and everybody has a job to do. In the beginning of the chapter she says that ones relationship with the community is its strongest when one has an obligation to the community. This is like the quote. Everybody has to be willing to do their part in order for a community to thrive. Children in Guatemala start pulling their own weight at a young age ad our taught by their parents that it is their duty.

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?

Even from the womb mothers in Guatemala prepare their children for a life of hardship and suffering; from the very beginning children are taught that life will be hard and that they must be strong. So, Rigoberta must have been very aware of the realities of life. I think what Rigoberta must have been feeling is something like "If the world is as bad as it is now, It will only be worse when I am older." I think like this sometimes; I have two very young sisters and I often worry about the type of things they will have to deal with when they are older. This is not an easy world to live in, especially when you are constantly having to defend the things you believe in; when honesty, integrity, and virtue are often pushed aside and disregarded. I think this is why Guatemalen mothers prepare their children for suffering from the very start because they know the world will be against their beliefs and values and be all too willing to take advantage of them for it.

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.

What sticks out to me the most is the quote that Rigoberta uses at the beginning of this chapter, she says " I was incapable of disobedience. and those employers exploited my obedience. They took advantage of my innocence." This quote makes me sad because I am sure that it applies to many more people then just Rigoberta and many more countries then just Guatemala. It really makes me mad that people have to put themselves higher then others. I have come to my own conclusion throughout my life that all the problems in our world stem from selfishness and pride. After reading this book I have only become more convinced of this.