Question

How do you know that menchu’s father did not adovocate violence?

Answer 1

When thinking about a primary source, it is essential to consider the historical context in which that primary source existed. In this case, the interview in 1992 occurred on the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the New World. The anniversary served to highlight the plight of indigenous people half a millennium after the arrival of Europeans in the Americas. The other major event was the Guatemalan civil war, which took place from 1960 to 1996. During the civil war, the Guatemalan government fought against indigenous people, who resorted to guerilla warfare in response to massacres by the Guatemalan military. These two events are important historical influences upon Menchú at the time of her interview; note especially how the mention of Columbus and his legacy frames her discussion of the problems facing native peoples of Latin America.