Life After Death

The personal stories that were in these six chapters were all very touching. I agree with Hanna that thus far, this reading has been my favorite. The material itself is actually very depressing and sometimes upsetting, but to have real people tell real stories certainly gives the readings a deeper meaning. Each individual who shared their story had a different experience. Those different experiences, however, all painted the same picture of this physically wonderous and beautiful country. Unfortunately the picture that I saw from these personal testimonies, was that of a country torn apart by a civil war and far from beautiful.

The story that Rigoberta Menchu told was a very emotional one. She appeared to have lost so many of the people that were supposed to nurture her, such as her parents, grow with her, such as her brothers, and fellowship and flourish with her, such as other close family members. One thing that really struck me was what she said to Lovell following publicly telling her story. "You understand that I can't tell them everything I know, everything that happened. If I do that, they might not believe me. I can only tell so much. It's better that way." It's ironic that she says that, yet has a critic. Firstly, I give Menchu a lot of credit for being able to revisit the not so pleasant past of her experiences in Guatemala in order to make others aware of what has taken place and what is currently going on. I have no idea how I would handle losing so many of my family members to blatant and careless murders.

Secondly, I couldn't be David Stoll. I can definitely see how it would be difficult for Menchu to tell her testimony, but I also realize how tough it would be for someone like Stoll to challenge her personal accounts. Personally, I'm not too sure how I feel about him. I understand that he wants the truth, but I feel as if this is a very sensitive subject to delve into. According to some of his findings that he retrieved from goverment documents, reports, and land claims, not all of Menchu's events went exactly as she stated. It was very interesting that the corrections that he made to her "false" testimonies didn't paint any better of a picture than the original testimonies. For instance, Menchu talks about how her brother, Petrocinio, was burned alive. On the contrary, Stoll argues rather that he was shot and his body dumped in a mass grave.

What ever really happened, the truth is that neither one was very pleasant and I'm sure not easy to live with. I simply cannot fathom having experienced what Menchu did and being able to be so strong and actually become a spokeswoman for my people. I've heard that life is 10% what happens and 90% how you react to it. I give Menchu many props for being able to positively and effectively handle the bag of lemons life tossed at her.