I, Rigoberta Menchu

Danae Tinelli

2622600

I, Rigoberta Menchu

For the people of Guatemala, the start of the 1960’s was a very rough time. This marked the beginning of what would be a 36-year Civil War filled with political terror. Out of the twenty-three indigenous ethnic groups living in Guatemala, the only ones who weren’t greatly affected were the mestizos, or ladinos. All the other Indian people suffered.

Rigoberta Menchu was part of the Quiche community. In I, Rigoberta Menchu, she tells her story of what it was like to live in these times. She starts off her story like this:

“My name is Rigoberta Menchu. I am twenty three years old. This is my testimony. I didn't learn it from a book and I didn't learn it alone. I'd like to stress that it's not only my life, it's also the testimony of my people. It's hard for me to remember everything that's happened to me in my life since there have been many very bad times, but, yes, moments of joy as well. The important thing is that what has happened to me has happened to many other people too: My story is the story of all poor Guatemalans. My personal experience is the reality of a whole people.”(1)

It is clear that times were hard for all poor Guatemalans. Was it harder for the women, though? Rigoberta goes on to narrate the story of her life, and it is clear that being a woman had its hardships as well as being poor.

At eight years old, Rigoberta was already working very hard but she was not earning anything. She was trying to help out her mother who had to continue on working in the fields even though she was carrying around her two year old son. This shows that even though women had the responsibility of being mothers, they still had to work as hard as the men.

By her tenth birthday, Rigoberta was given a list of rules and responsibilities she had to abide by now that she was an “adult.” She says that her family gathered around and told her what it meant now that she was a woman. “They told me I would have many ambitions...