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Chapter 15
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in I, Rigoberta Menchú, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Tolerance vs. Resistance
Class, Race, and Inequality
Ancestors, Tradition, and Community
Gender and Sexuality
Language, Education, and Power
Spirituality, Nature, and the Sacredness of Life
Summary
Analysis
Curious about the fact that these social problems extend to other communities, Rigoberta reflects on her own life to understand the situation of other Indians. She realizes that she was never afforded a childhood, due to lack of schooling and food. In the CUC’s early stages, the village reflected on the problem of poverty as a consequence of exploitation and cultural discrimination. Rigoberta recalls the brutal military dictators that came to power in 1974 and tricked villages into trusting them, only in order to brutally control them later on.
Rigoberta’s personal reflections, along with the discussions in her village and in the CUC, reveal that her community’s oppression did not begin with military brutality. Rather, it is possible to consider extreme poverty—the consequence of exploitation and inequality—a form of oppression, as the villagers are deprived of basic necessities like food and medicine.
Themes
As Rigoberta learned more about exploitation, she realized that not all ladinos were bad—some were as poor as her own family. However, when she tried to discuss the issue with one ladino, he responded to her with profound contempt, telling her that, as an Indian, she knew nothing about his situation. Rigoberta understood that the system not only isolated Indians from one another but also prevented cooperation between Indians and ladinos.
Rigoberta’s ladino interlocutor’s reaction shows that, even though poor ladinos and Indians might share similar economic conditions, deeply rooted racist beliefs are a major obstacle to uniting both ethnic groups. Rigoberta’s insight about this situation—despite the pain that such contempt undoubtedly generates in her—reveals her commitment to fostering unity among all sub-groups of the Guatemalan poor.
Themes
During this period, the village decided to use violence to defend their rights and those of their ancestors. Rigoberta instructed the children in these issues. She realized that she did not need formal schooling to give speeches, because her own suffering had taught her enough already. Rigoberta began to imagine the future with enthusiasm, dreaming of a time when Indians might fully reclaim their land. In the village, everyone united and played a role in the struggle, including the children.
Given the emphasis that the Maya-Quiché places on nonviolence and respecting all living things, the decision to use violence as self-defense involves breaking their own principles to ensure their survival. The goal is to make some cultural sacrifices in the present in the hope of a brighter future: one in which Indians might secure their own land, where they’d be able to live in harmony with nature.
Themes
Rigoberta then decided to join an underground group of peasants associated with the CUC. She traveled around the countryside, gradually gaining clarity on the mechanisms through which the rich oppress the poor. She also realized that, although priests brought good things to the community, they also taught peasants to be passive. They preached that killing others was a sin—but this, Rigoberta argues, keeps poor people from understanding the systemic nature of their oppression. She found that nuns refused to answer her questions about the legitimacy of poor Indians’ rebellion against the rich, which left her confused.
Rigoberta’s approach to justice suggests that, in the face of violence, people should be allowed to defend themselves. In this sense, she does not believe that violent actions should be banned in all situations: rather, as her community has concluded, violence is justified if one’s life (and culture) is at risk. Her criticism of Catholic doctrine, in this respect, highlights her belief in creating peace and justice in the present, not in a possible afterlife.
Themes
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Rigoberta notes that her younger siblings’ ideas were clearer than hers, because they never had the experience of being brought to fincas in a lorry. Such difficult experiences leave indelible marks of suffering, capable of changing a person forever.
Rigoberta’s cryptic comment suggests that certain traumatic experiences and emotions are difficult to communicate to others. She suggests that her experience of the dreadful 36-hour lorry trip to the fincas has forced her to accept a certain degree of physical suffering and humiliation. By contrast, her siblings can freely express their anger and indignation, because they have never been forced to repress these feelings.
Themes
