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
Deciding to work as a maid for the landowner, Rigoberta followed him out of the finca. Her father said that he didn’t know what might happen to her, but he told her that she was now a grown-up woman. When Rigoberta reached the master’s home, she realized that her clothes were used and dirty because she had been working hard in the finca. She worked in a house with another servant, Candelaria. The only food she received were hard tortillas with some beans, although the dog’s food consisted of leftovers of the family meal, including meat and rice. This injustice deeply hurt Rigoberta, who realized that she was considered inferior to the dog. However, she was used to these kinds of meals and ate her food anyway.
Although Rigoberta hopes that her experience in the capital city might prove to be a better alternative than toiling in the fincas like her parents, her first experience actually suggests the contrary: that working for the rich, whether in a household or on a finca, involves some form of humiliation and discrimination. Rigoberta experiences this with the terrible food she is served (which recalls the food served on the finca) and her employers’ dehumanizing behavior, as they treat their Indigenous servants worse than their dog.
Themes
Rigoberta slowly got to know the other maid, Candelaria, who spoke Spanish and wore ladino clothing. The girl ate the family’s leftovers and sometimes shared some food with Rigoberta. At three in the morning on her first day of work, Rigoberta, already awake, reflected that her family had already started working. Her own workday began at seven, when she was told to wash the dishes. However, the mistress was horrified by how dirty Rigoberta was. She told Rigoberta that she would buy her clothes and shoes, deducting the cost from her salary and adding that Rigoberta’s state made her feel ashamed in front of her friends.
Rigoberta’s comparison between her family’s work schedule and her own suggests that she might feel guilty for having a more relaxed workday. However, her first experiences with her mistress suggest the very opposite: that she might actually face new—and, possibly, worse—difficulties than her family. Now, she must listen to derogatory comments from a tyrannical mistress. This emotional abuse, Rigoberta will soon realize, might actually be more unbearable than physical exhaustion.
Themes
Rigoberta didn’t speak Spanish well enough to respond to her mistress, but she insulted her mentally. Full of hatred, Rigoberta told herself that this despicable woman would never be capable of doing the type of work her mother did. When Rigoberta received her corte, material used to make an Indian skirt, she cut it in half to have two separate pieces of clothing instead of the single piece the woman gave her.
Rigoberta’s mental insults show that she is already beginning to resist oppression, even if it only takes place in her mind. This resistance then takes the form of external self-expression when Rigoberta makes an independent decision to cut her corte in half. This action suggests that she will make her own decisions about what might be most useful to her, instead of following the mistress’s arbitrary orders.
Themes
After learning different chores in the house, Rigoberta realized that her grandmother was right in saying that rich people want everything, from their plates to their toilets, to shine. By contrast, Rigoberta’s family did not even have a toilet at home. In the landowner’s home, Rigoberta was in charge of washing, ironing, and hanging the landowner and his three children’s clothes multiple times per day, because they changed clothes so often.
Rigoberta’s comparison between her family’s way of life and the rich landowner’s house reveals not envy but, on the contrary, disdain. She implicitly suggests that having shiny toilets—or even having toilets at all—is not a sign of well-being but of superficiality. In the same vein, changing clothes three times per day contrasts starkly with the humility that Rigoberta’s community has with regard to clothing. For the Maya-Quiché, changing one’s clothes is viewed not as a sign of cleanliness, but rather of spiritual inconsistency.
Themes
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The mistress treated Rigoberta with horrible contempt: “not as a dog,” Rigoberta notes, because the woman actually treated the dog with affection and care. On Saturdays, both maids were forced to leave the house, because the mistress did not want them there. Thanks to Candelaria’s contacts, Rigoberta was able to spend the night at one of her friend’s house.
Rigoberta’s personal experience of being treated worse than a dog reveals the racism and inequality in Guatemala. This leads some rich ladinos to consider Indians inferior to other human beings and even, as Rigoberta suggests, inferior to animals. In these difficult circumstances, Candelaria’s attitude provides a ray of hope, suggesting that solidarity can play an important role in allowing members of vulnerable groups to withstand oppressive conditions.
Themes
The sons in the house, aged 12 to 22, treated the servants terribly, shouting at them and throwing dishes in their faces. The mistress, meanwhile, spent her time complaining about every detail in the house. Rigoberta wondered what activities the woman possibly did outside the house. When she was home, all she did was complain, sleep, and ask for her meals. The entire family yelled at the girls from their beds for their slippers and for meals to be brought. They also complained about wasting their money on the girls’ salaries.
The fact that even the family’s sons treated the servants so terribly illustrates the pervasiveness of racism and the deep inequality that drives this society, in which rich ladino elites seek to keep dominating over the Indian poor, in order to stay in power. The contrast between this family’s authoritarian demands and its unwillingness to pay its servants shows that they feel entitled to dominate over others, without realizing or caring about how harmful their behavior actually is.
Themes
To protest, Rigoberta and Candelaria decided not to follow every one of the mistress’s whims. Candelaria wanted to find another job, and Rigoberta realized that the mistress was angry at the young woman for not being willing to “initiate” her sons sexually, which was apparently an option in her contract.
The threat of sexual abuse that hangs over Candelaria and Rigoberta’s work reveals that this family does not see them as full human beings. Rather, they’re treated as bodies to use in whatever ways the family wants—whether by barking orders at the girls or by using them for their sons’ sexual pleasure.
Themes
One day, Rigoberta’s father came to visit. He had spent all his money during his stay in the capital, in order to solve an issue related to their land. After seeing Rigoberta’s father, who appeared poor and dirty, the mistress told Rigoberta that she couldn’t take him inside the house and had to talk to him outside. Used to being rejected by ladino society, Rigoberta’s father understood.
Rigoberta’s indignation at how she is treated in this household contrasts starkly with her father’s apparent acceptance. Rigoberta’s father’s lack of surprise at being treated in such a demeaning way does not suggest that being the victim of racism is any less painful over time, but simply that he recognizes racism as an indelible aspect of Guatemalan society.
Themes
When Rigoberta told her father that she had no money to give him, because her mistress had not yet paid her for her work (she used Rigoberta’s salary to buy her clothes), her father began to cry. Rigoberta asked Candelaria for help, and the girl, whom Rigoberta describes as very tough, stood up to the mistress. The mistress complained about Indians taking advantage about other people’s money and food, but she finally gave Rigoberta some money, which allowed her father to get home. Indignant at how the mistress behaved, Candelaria decided to keep on challenging her.
Rigoberta’s father’s tears come as a surprise, given his usual calm demeanor and his status as a courageous leader of the community. These tears highlight the emotional toll of poverty, as certain circumstances (such as not having enough money to return home) can become a matter of life and death. Candelaria’s defiant attitude shows Rigoberta that resistance to unjust authority can actually be fruitful, and that she does not always have to yield to her mistress’s cruel behavior.
Themes
During her first four months, Rigoberta received no pay. However, she began to understand and speak Spanish a bit better. After eight months, when Christmas came, the maids were in charge of making tamales, but they decided to resist in small ways: for example, killing the turkeys without dressing them, which would cause them to rot. Rigoberta found it difficult to disobey, because her upbringing always emphasized obedience. However, after noticing that the girls were plotting something, the mistress threw Candelaria out before Christmas.
Although Candelaria’s defiant attitude has had some positive results on other occasions, being fired so easily emphasizes the precariousness of these young maids’ circumstances. Resistance might help them cope with the emotional toll of racism and abuse, but it does not necessarily guarantee them a more stable or fairer future. Given the importance of tamales in Rigoberta’s culture, preparing them in such a hostile environment highlights the contrast between her community’s focus on generosity and this family’s selfish desire to order others around. In contrast to the Maya-Quiché, the family doesn’t show gratitude for the natural resources that sustain them.
Themes
On Christmas day, Rigoberta realized that she could not bear these work conditions anymore. Although she could remember suffering as a child, none of the pain she felt then compared to her current situation, marked by rejection and humiliation. Rigoberta was even more furious when she heard the family discuss Indians’ laziness. The family, drunk from Christmas celebrations, left a tamal for her, but they soon took back it when they wanted more food. Rigoberta was furious, but not only at seeing her food taken away: rather, she knew that the way they left her food indicated their disdainful and condescending attitude toward her. That night, she refused to pick up the plates, concluding that these people could do nothing on their own, and that the poor actually had more fun than her employers did.
Rigoberta’s conclusion that racism and emotional abuse is less tolerable than working in the finca reveals how important a role her community’s support has played throughout her life. Although her life has been filled with suffering and grief, both she and her family have borne these difficult emotions together. This support system, along with her community’s insistence on sharing and celebrating life together, has given her a strength and comfort. Now, she understands how important this is, given that she’s on her own in an exploitative situation. She concludes that money and power are not attractive: she prefers the kindness and humility that defines life in her poor Indigenous community.
Themes
The next day, Rigoberta cleaned up everything, although the mistress complained that she wasn’t as self-sufficient as Candelaria. She told her to go to the market, but Rigoberta admitted that she could not find her way in the city. The mistress then called her an “Indian whore” and cursed at her. Later, Rigoberta overheard her telling her neighbor that their maid robs them. Rigoberta, meanwhile, hadn’t eaten for two or three days.
Rigoberta’s hunger reveals that her current situation is not only one of mental abuse but of nearly criminal neglect. The contrast between Rigoberta’s physical suffering and the mistress’s selfishness, cruelty, and unfounded criticism once again shows that this rich family does not view their Indian servants as human beings. Rather, they see their maids as submissive animals whose entire existence should revolve around fulfilling the family’s every whim.
Themes
Finally, after receiving money for two months’ work, Rigoberta decided to leave. Surprisingly, the mistress then tried to convince her to stay, telling her that the family cared about her and that they could increase her wage. However, Rigoberta was set on leaving. Later, she realized that she made this decision at a particularly unfortunate time: upon leaving, she learned from one of her brothers that her father had been sent to prison.
Rigoberta’s decision to leave once again reveals her determination to stand up for herself and seek a better life, as she had initially sought to do by working as a maid in the capital. Although painful, her experience in Guatemala City is not wasted time: it has shown her the deep roots of racism and the cruelty of the dominant class, which treats Indians as inferior to human beings.
Themes
