Rigoberta Menchu Research Paper

The most powerful way of defeating an enemy is by using their own weapons against them. Rigoberta Menchú is an Indian woman from Guatemala who was constantly discriminated aginst and terrorized for being Indian. Rigoberta and her community got tired of being pushed around as if they were nothing. The discrimination and terrorism from the Ladinos became too much for the Indians that they had to defend themselves, and they began to use their knowledge to help their community survive. Rigoberta used the Ladinos’ weapons and mistreatment against them, so that she and other Indians could have a better life. With the help of her culture, the Bible, her life experiences, and her learning Spanish, Rigoberta was able to aid her community.

Rigoberta and her community used Christianity as another way for them to communicate with God. Through Christianity her community found and analyzed the Bible. The community studied and used the stories in the Bible in order to give them strength to fight for justice. Rigoberta explains the story of David and Goliath and how this story would …show more content…
Her life experiences helped her want to help change the repression that many Indians go through just because they are Indians. On her trips to the capital, her father would teach Rigoberta the things he had to do in order to help their community. One of the things Rigoberta learned in the capital was “when people have problems with land, when they’re sold land, or when the government wants to settle peasants in other areas, they go through the Agrarian Transformation Institute”. Rigoberta grew close to her father and he taught her how to be respected and liked in her community – this helped her aid her community. Through her work with the CUC, Rigoberta learned how to organize the people. All the things she lived, since she was a kid, were learning experiences which helped her want to help her community have a better