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Chapter 20
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
In 1977, Rigoberta’s father joined the CUC, still an underground organization, after leaving prison. He was forced to lead a hidden life. A fiesta was organized at their village, as a farewell; such special events represented one of the rare occasions when the villagers killed an animal to eat meat. Rigoberta’s father gave a speech to the community, saying it was now his duty to help other villages, and everyone felt thankful for the leadership he’d shown them until now.
Rigoberta’s father’s decision to take part in a national political struggle for peasants’ rights is an example of the danger that awaits those who resist oppressive landowners. But it also underscores the village’s independence: the villagers have sufficiently united and organized, so that now they don’t depend on a single leader
Themes
Rigoberta’s entire family split, out of necessity, although Rigoberta found it difficult to accept that they would all be working in different areas. Rigoberta’s father told them that they all had to carry on their important work, even if different members of the family were killed. This was the last time all of Rigoberta’s siblings were together; the moment crystallized their commitment to the struggle. Rigoberta soon left to work for the CUC and to organize resistance in different communities.
Rigoberta’s family knows that defying the authorities and the country’s rich elite will guarantee suffering and even death. This speaks to how necessary society-wide reform is: the entire political, legal, and economic systems need to be transformed, so that the poor might be allowed to have a say in their own fate. The separation of Rigoberta’s family highlights their political commitment: their first priority will remain the dignity and well-being of their entire people, even if this involves sacrificing their personal happiness.
Themes
