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I, Rigoberta Menchu

 Rigoberta Menchu
 

Key Facts

 
full title ·  I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala
 
author · Edited by Elisabeth Burgos-Debray, from interviews with Rigoberta Menchu
 
type of work · Autobiography
 
genre · Memoir; testimonial; bildungsroman
 
language · Spanish
 
time and place written · 1982; Paris
 
date of first publication · 1983
 
publisher · Editorial Argos Vergara
 
narrator · Rigoberta Menchu
 
point of view · The narrator speaks in both plural first person and first person. This fluctuates, based on the events being described. The narrative remains with Rigoberta, although she describes events she could not witness with panoramic detail. As a narrator, Rigoberta represents a highly subjective, limited view of the other characters.
 
tone · Confessional; sentimental; explanatory
 
tense · Past; switches to present when describing traditions
 
setting (time) · 1959–1982
 
setting (place) · The mountains and coast of Guatemala; Guatemala City; Mexico
 
protagonist · Rigoberta Menchu
 
major conflict · Various Indian tribes, including the Quiches, of which Rigoberta is a member, are repeatedly exploited by the Spanish-speaking ladino population of Guatemala until they begin defending themselves in a movement led by Rigoberta and her family. Rigoberta's determination to pursue knowledge goes against some of the conventions of her people and limitations placed on her because of her gender. Rigoberta struggles to stand up for herself and her people.
 
rising action · When ladino landowners begin to stake their claim on the Altiplano, where Rigoberta and her people live, the Indians refuse to give up their land and begin defending their territory using makeshift weapons and traps. Rigoberta is empowered by her experience working as a maid in Guatemala City.
 
climax · The capture and burning of Rigoberta's brother, Petrocinio, fortifies Rigoberta's family's fight against the Guatemalans, causing Rigoberta's father to organize the storming of the capital, which results in his death and the persecution of Rigoberta and her family.
 
falling action · After the murder of her parents, Rigoberta views being an activist as her calling in life. She renounces marriage and embraces her work as a revolutionary in Guatemala and abroad.
 
themes · The power of language; the cost of progress; the virtue of hard work
 
motifs · Tradition; community; storytelling
 
symbols · The lorry; Rigoberta's corte; the Old Woman
 
foreshadowing
 · The death of Nicolas, Rigoberta's little brother, at the finca stirs a well of anger within Rigoberta, sparking a desire to rebel, which foreshadows the rebellion that takes place within the Indian community after Rigoberta and her family witness the burning of Petrocinio, another of Rigoberta's younger brothers. Rigoberta's first visit to Guatemala City, which is both frightening and instructive, foreshadows her experience there as a maid, when she is again scared but enlightened.
 · Rigoberta's negative feelings toward the landowner on the finca mimic the feelings she holds toward the mistress when she becomes that landowner's maid a few years later.
 
 
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