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Nicolás Menchú Tum
Rigoberta’s eldest brother Felipe, whom she never knew, died of intoxication on the finca after the coffee plants were sprayed with pesticides. This is one of the many deaths on the finca that highlight the lack of interest landowners had in their workers’ safety and well-being. It also emphasizes the dangers of modern chemicals, which contrasts with Maya-Quiché people’s insistence on making everything by hand and avoiding products that have been made with modern machinery.
Felipe Menchú Tum Quotes in I, Rigoberta Menchú
The I, Rigoberta Menchú quotes below are all either spoken by Felipe Menchú Tum or refer to Felipe Menchú Tum . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 13
Quotes
I said: ‘Why don’t we burn all this so that people can’t come and work here any more?’ I hated the people who sprayed the crops. I felt they were responsible. ‘Why did they spray poison when people were working there?’ I was very upset when I went back home that time. I was with my neighbours and my older sister because my father had stayed up in the Altiplano. When I got home I told my mother that my friend had died. My mother cried and I said: ‘Mother, I don’t want to live. Why didn’t die when I was little? How can we go on living?’ My mother scolded me and told me not to be silly. But to me it wasn’t silly. They were very serious ideas.
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Felipe Menchú Tum Quotes in I, Rigoberta Menchú
The I, Rigoberta Menchú quotes below are all either spoken by Felipe Menchú Tum or refer to Felipe Menchú Tum . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 13
Quotes
I said: ‘Why don’t we burn all this so that people can’t come and work here any more?’ I hated the people who sprayed the crops. I felt they were responsible. ‘Why did they spray poison when people were working there?’ I was very upset when I went back home that time. I was with my neighbours and my older sister because my father had stayed up in the Altiplano. When I got home I told my mother that my friend had died. My mother cried and I said: ‘Mother, I don’t want to live. Why didn’t die when I was little? How can we go on living?’ My mother scolded me and told me not to be silly. But to me it wasn’t silly. They were very serious ideas.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
