Reaction to I, Rigoberta Menchú

I, Rigoberta Menchu is not actually by Rigoberta Menchú, but rather a book compiled out of interviews with Elisabeth Burgos. I found that very interesting, partly because I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't read the introduction to the book, since Burgos removed all aspects of an interview from the text. Knowing that the book was originally a much longer interview transcript, I wondered what sort of impact Burgos' choices had on the content. Obviously she had to take things out in order to create a reasonably sized book, so how did she decide what was less important or not as interesting? Based on the introduction, I am under the impression that Burgos did not consult Menchú on what she thought most important, so I am curious as to what Menchú thinks of the finished product. I also found it odd that there are so many things repeated throughout the book, since Burgos surely had enough material to avoid repetition had she wanted to.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book. I had practically no prior knowledge of Guatemala, so it was nice to learn about a country that is usually glossed over in classes. I do wish that I had read this earlier in my life, though, because I think it provides insight into a very important situation, and it bothers me that we are so poorly educated about things like this around the world. I think that as a society we don't like to think about the bad things around us, because we don't want to feel obligated to do something about it. We also like to see ourselves as heroes, and according the film we watched in class, the U.S. is guilty of worsening the situation in Guatemala, so it makes sense that this is something we wouldn't be taught about in schools.

Menchú makes a point of saying that keeping secrets is very important to her community, but she goes on to share what seems like very private information, detailing their daily lives and many of their rituals and military tactics. It made me wonder just what exactly she was still keeping a secret, and why she thought some secrets were more worth keeping than others. I am also curious about how other members of her community reacted to the book, since she tells so much about their lives.

Although I frequently wondered at what was being left out, both by Burgos and by Menchú, the information and experiences that were included in the text did a good job of presenting the situation and introducing the reader to a different way of life, and I would definitely recommend this book.

Intro

I'm Ashley, and I'm 22 and a senior (but not graduating yet) at GV. I'm majoring in creative writing, English, and Spanish, and I have no idea what I'm going to do when I grow up. I have a little sister who's a freshman at GV and a cat back home on the other side of the state. I love winter, so I'm very happy that it's cold and snowy today. I've had enough of that warm weather in January nonsense.

That's about it...hopefully I'll remember to update this thing.