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
Growing up, Rigoberta learned that, as a woman, her objective was get married and become a mother. Her parents told her not to compromise her dignity by wearing makeup, as this would offend their ancestors. Women were also encouraged to ignore or defend themselves against men who talked to them in the street, because men and women should not court each other in public. However, despite children’s possible knowledge about their parents’ sex lives, Rigoberta criticizes the lack of education parents give concerning bodily transformations and pregnancy. She argues that ignorance of one’s body is harmful to one’s growth.
Rigoberta’s perspective on her Maya-Quiché traditions is deeply respectful, but it also leaves space for constructive criticism. In this sense, Rigoberta does not necessarily defy certain norms concerning how women should dress and behave toward men. However, she emphasizes the importance of education, arguing that only a full understanding of one’s anatomy can lead to informed choices. Although she does not say so explicitly, she implies that, in this regard, traditions and ceremonies are not enough: Indigenous women and men should benefit from modern scientific knowledge concerning sexual reproduction.
Themes
Rigoberta notes that, despite its emphasis on childbearing, her community does not reject homosexuality. Discrimination against homosexual people is, she argues, a trait of ladino society. Indians, on the other hand, accept anything that nature produces, including animals or harvests that “did not turn out right,” because they are taught not to want more than what life gives them.
Rigoberta’s discussion of homosexuality suggests that, although tolerated, people who deviate from heterosexual norms of behavior are not fully recognized as equals: their sexual desire and behavior is viewed as not conforming to the “right” way of being. This can be understood in terms of the community’s focus on sexual reproduction as a necessary means of survival. In this context, homosexual relationships might not be valued as highly as heterosexual ones since they don’t produce children. Rigoberta does not discuss the issue further, thus leaving ambiguity about the extent to which homosexual couples are actually integrated into Maya-Quiché culture.
Themes
Rigoberta describes the multiple ways in which the outside world threatens Maya-Quiché people. In the past, this has included campaigns to sterilize Indian women without them knowing, in order to control the population. For Indians, using artificial methods to prevent childbirth is a violation of ancestral laws that mandate loving everything that lives. Due to their mistrust of the outside world, the community is suspicious of people who have lived outside the community, like Rigoberta herself.
The Maya-Quiché’s rejection of modern methods of family planning is explained both in terms of culture and of a history of external manipulation. Given the high child mortality in the community, this leads to a double bind: if women have children, they know that at least a few of them are likely to die of malnutrition or other ailments. Rigoberta also suggests that her own situation is ambiguous: although she has spent her life defending her community’s culture, taking part in activities outside the village has actually made her suspicious of the very community she strives to protect.
Themes
Rigoberta describes different aspects of the Maya-Quiché marriage procedure. Marriage is associated with childbirth as well as a commitment to perpetuate the traditions of the community, so it is taken very seriously and involves different steps. In the early stage of the “open door,” the young man proposes marriage to the young woman, but she is free to accept or reject his offer. One of Rigoberta’s sisters waited seven months before committing to marrying her husband. In the meantime, the young man visits the young woman’s family, bringing small gifts each time. The parents discuss their daughter’s qualities, emphasizing her work ethic and dedication to the community’s standards of behavior.
The Maya-Quiché emphasis on marriage as a prelude to sexual reproduction places a heavy burden on women, who know that childbirth is bound to lead to grief and suffering. This is one of the aspects of wedlock that will later lead Rigoberta to doubt whether or not she actually wants to marry.
Themes
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Once the ceremony is arranged, the community prepares a celebration. The young man’s parents bring a lamb and tamales. Only the most respected members of the community are chosen to serve the food. After kneeling out of respect, the guests stand, and the ceremony begins. Grandparents relate stories of their own lives, emphasizing moments of both suffering and happiness. Still kneeling, the married couple prays and pledges to “honour the Indian race.” In a speech, they accuse the colonizers at the time of Columbus of harming their community, creating inequality, and dividing up land. This message serves as a historical reminder but also as a call to consciousness in the present. After making their vows, the couple can finally stand. Then, they apologize to the people they have offended over their lifetime and for the potential harm they might have caused to the natural world.
The sacred role of food in the community—in particular, meat, which involves the sacrifice of an animal, and tamales, made with the revered maize plant—comes to the fore in the marriage ceremony. The couple’s emphasis on historical developments, such as the brutality of colonization, mirrors their grandparents’ personal storytelling. Both historical narratives are meant to teach the couple lessons from the past in order to solve present struggles. In this sense, history is not relegated to the past: history continues to be made in the present, as the community fights against violence and oppression.
Themes
During the ceremony, the grandparents insist that, in the past, Indians used to live past 100, whereas now they only make it to 30 or 40. They tell the younger generation it is their responsibility to reflect on these problems. They also blame “the white man” for teaching members of their community to kill, which never happened before. Rigoberta finds much joy and meaning in these moments, as it allows the eldest members of the community to share their life experience.
The grandparents’ narrative underscores the long history of racial tension in this area: it did not begin with Guatemalan independence and the power of a small ladino elite. Rather, its source is Spain’s violent colonization of the area centuries ago. The community’s emphasis on personal storytelling contrasts with traditional Guatemalan education, in that it focuses on past and present suffering, insisting that the community’s role is to fight against modern problems that harm the Indian community.
Themes
After smoking and drinking, each instance of which is preceded by a prayer, the village representatives tell the couple to have children in order to continue the Indian race and their ancestors’ legacies. After listening on their knees to their elders’ speeches (which is an act of penitence), the couple can get up, and the rest of the day is devoted to talking. Everyone shares observations and reflections on the state of society and the evolution of their community. Rigoberta finds these final moments sad, noticing the worry that the elders feel when they compare the peaceful past to the degradation of the present.
As all Maya-Quiché are told since childbirth, suffering is an integral part of everyday life. In this sense, the grandparents’ focus on the current problems that the community faces highlights the importance of accepting suffering as both a personal and a communal way of being. At the same time, these sad moments also contain within them the seeds of resistance, since they encourage the next generations to reflect on the sources of such pain—and, ideally, to try to resolve such problems.
Themes
After the discussion has ended, everyone eats the food that has been brought. A third ceremony then takes place, similar to a Catholic wedding ceremony. However, instead of being directed toward God, the couple’s vows refer to the elders. The couple accepts that their family will likely suffer under the oppression of white people, but that they will endure such suffering with dignity.
Making vows to one’s ancestors instead of God has one important consequence: it encourages action in the present, meant to protect and preserve the community, instead of passive submissive to a deity’s mysterious will.
Themes
To represent the couple’s union, different objects are brought out. Tortillas, for example, represent the sacredness of the maize. On the other hand, modern objects such as chocolate, bread, and coffee, represent threats to the community. Bread, for example, was created by the Spanish who came to colonize the land, and it’s made with modern equipment. Indians are told that they should not eat bread but only consume tortillas, in order to respect their ancestors’ way of life. They should also reject what the rich use, such as modern pots, because pottery-making is a skill that must not be lost.
The Maya-Quiché community’s emphasis on respecting tradition involves rejecting modern equipment that might cause ancestral practices to be lost. This highlights the central, unifying role that shared practices—such as the handmade preparation of tortillas and pottery—play in the community. Through such customs, the community ensures the survival of an ancient way of life, even if it is more arduous and time-consuming than using modern machines.
Themes
After this third ceremony, a small fiesta gathers the family together. During this event, the father relinquishes responsibility of his daughter, since she will begin a new life in a new community. The bride’s siblings thank her for everything she has done for them and tell her that they look up to her as a mother. In turn, the bride thanks her siblings and kneels to thank her parents. This is a painful moment, because leaving the community causes much sadness. The bride receives earthenware pots, made by her own mother, since Indians do not buy such utensils. She also receives a mat, woven by her mother, to symbolize a mother’s connection to the earth. The family then burns some incense, a feature in all ceremonies, serving as a sacrifice to God.
The separation of the bride from her family and her community emphasizes the shared responsibilities that have bound the entire community together up until this point. Although the bride has benefited and will continue to benefit from her parents’ support, she has also served as an authority figure to her younger siblings. At the same time, the endurance of these bonds is symbolized by the gifts the girl receives from her mother: these are everyday objects that serve a practical purpose but also carry on traditions. This emphasizes the cyclical nature of life in the Maya-Quiché community, as each daughter will, in turn, become a mother herself.
Themes
The fourth ceremony is the despedida (farewell). With sadness, the girl takes her leave from her community. Although Indians do not usually pick flowers, given that nature must not be harmed, the community collects special white flowers and arranges them as decorations around the house. All the neighbors bring the bride gifts as symbols of their affection and commitment to her.
The intimate relationship that the Maya-Quiché have with nature gives flowers a special meaning in this context. This event is spiritually important, as a member of the community is offered a new life elsewhere but maintains a steadfast commitment to her inherited traditions.
Themes
The entire community then gathers for a fiesta. During this event, the girl meets her husband’s godparents for the first time. She also receives flowers from her grandmother, along with advice about a woman’s behavior, in particular regarding the dangers of prostitution. The grandmother might also comment on the denaturing of Indian marriage by the Catholic Church’s and the ladinos’ laws, which bind people together through a piece of paper. In Indian customs, by contrast, a woman is not bound to her husband forever: if she suffers too much during her marriage, she is allowed to leave her husband and reintegrate her community.
The contrast between ladino Guatemalan society and Maya-Quiché conceptions of marriage suggests that women are afforded greater freedom in this Indigenous group. Although celebrated as a profoundly important cultural event, marriage is not necessarily rigidly fixed, and special circumstances, such as deep unhappiness, can justify breaking up a marriage. This flexibility underscores the fact that the bride still primarily belongs to original community, which has pledged to support her throughout her life, as long as she continues to respect its traditions and norms. This gives women a certain level of security, as they know they can leave a marriage that causes them too much harm or unhappiness.
Themes
After the fiesta, the bride leaves her house and is only allowed to return after 15 days. This represents the need to look forward whenever a problem arises, instead of dwelling in the past. One cannot return to childhood: the married girl is now a full adult.
This attitude of looking forward to the future rather than dwelling on the past speaks to the Maya-Quiché’s general acceptance of suffering as an inevitable part of life. Rather than looking for a clear answer or an escape from her problems, the bride is encouraged to stay optimistic and patiently wait for better days ahead.
Themes
In the new community, members of the bride’s new house perform a ceremony to ask the house for permission to add a new member to the household. If problems ever arise between the couple, they are meant to solve them together. However, in the case of intractable issues, the girl is free to return to her former community, as long as she has kept on respecting their traditions. If the girl disrespects their customs, however, the community might not be equally forgiving.
The community’s willingness to accept a bride who wishes to leave her marriage still emphasizes the need for the couple to engage in dialogue and solve their problems on their own. This insistence on dialogue mirrors Rigoberta’s mother’s own belief in fostering dialogue between men and women, both in intimate relationships and in society more broadly.
Themes
Rigoberta’s sister experienced problems in her marriage, because she found it impossible to integrate a community that spoke a different language and followed different customs. She ended up returning to her original community with her newly born child. The community gave them a small plot of collective land, thus demonstrating their enduring commitment to her.
This anecdote reveals the deep differences that exist between different Indigenous communities. Linguistic divisions are an important obstacle to Indigenous communities’ self-preservation, as it prevents them from coming together and uniting toward a common goal. Despite cultural differences, these Indigenous groups suffer from the same political and economic exploitation.
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