I think what makes this book so powerful is its simplicity. The way it is written gives me the impression that Rigoberta is actually talking to me just as she would talk to anybody else. As Melissa mentioned in a post before me, It is a much different experience then if I was reading about Guatemala from a text book or a newspaper article. She doesn't doesn't try to use the most fancy language or try to sugar coat things. She simply tells her story. I feel like I am starting to get to know Guatemala better or atleast in the best possible way that I could from a book. I am learning that the indigenous people take deep pride in their culture and the sense of community is very strong. I would imagine that in an average Guatemalan town "everybody knows everybody". I picture bright colors and for some reason lots of animals. Hardworking and humble is how I imagine the people.
2. Menchu uses the following quotation to start Chapter 7, "...those who sow maize for profit leave the earth empty of bones of the forefathers that give the maize, and then the earth demands bones, and the softest ones, those of children, pile up on the top of her and beneath her black crust, to feed her." After reading this chapter, what is your reaction to this quotation?
Maize is sacred to the people of Guatemala because it what gives them life. Without maize they would cease to be . When people start cultivating it for profit they lose sight of what is important. Sowing maize becomes no longer a way to live but a way to earn money and money causes greed and greed causes people to be selfish. Selfish people don't care about others. They don't care if they starve or work themselves to death all they care about is money and their own happiness. This is why the bones of Guatemalan children, such as Rigoberta's brother, started to pile upon the earth.
3. Based on your reading of Chapter 8, what are your thoughts of culture? How does Rigoberta's culture align to your own? How is it different?
Culture is a interesting aspect of my life. I have about ten different nationalities of which I connect somewhat strongly with about three of them. If someone asks me what I am, I say I am Tongan, Samoan, and Native American. They then get a puzzled look on their face because I obviously look like a white girl and I think it is pretty funny to see peoples reactions when I tell them my different nationalities. For me culture is more about values then it is about what people usually think of as culture. It would be impossible for me to practice all of my different cultures and even if I did decide that I wanted to say, immerse myself in my Native American culture and start living that way, I would not be taken seriously. Rigoberta Menchu is very passionate about her culture and keeping it alive. It is something very special to her. Our cultures have little in common but what makes us the same is the value we place on families and living in a way which will make them proud.
Culture is a interesting aspect of my life. I have about ten different nationalities of which I connect somewhat strongly with about three of them. If someone asks me what I am, I say I am Tongan, Samoan, and Native American. They then get a puzzled look on their face because I obviously look like a white girl and I think it is pretty funny to see peoples reactions when I tell them my different nationalities. For me culture is more about values then it is about what people usually think of as culture. It would be impossible for me to practice all of my different cultures and even if I did decide that I wanted to say, immerse myself in my Native American culture and start living that way, I would not be taken seriously. Rigoberta Menchu is very passionate about her culture and keeping it alive. It is something very special to her. Our cultures have little in common but what makes us the same is the value we place on families and living in a way which will make them proud.
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