A Mayan Life #6

In the beginning passage of the book, Gaspar describes the rituals that take place for birth of a baby, in this case Lwin. According to Mayan custom, the parents must go find godparents for their child and have many parties celebrating the child's birth. Also, the mother must participate in a ceremonial sweat bath after the child is born and the child's umbilical chord must be buried in a special place. The author's descriptions in the beginning of the book lead the reader to anticipate a similar situation at its end, except one that has to do with death instead of birth. It is fitting for a book that begins with life to end with death. This is evident in Gaspar's book. It begins with the birth of Lwin, and ends with his death. As he lies in the same bed that he was born in, withered with age and ready to die, Lwin's many grandchildren stand over him. He looks over to the patch of earth where is umbilical chord was buried so many years ago. He begins to flash back to his childhood, seeing his cruel school teacher in front of him. Lwin begs her not to beat him with her ruler as he slips further and further into delirium. Finally, he dies and the book is ended. Gaspar's book had so much to do with the hardships of the life of a Maya that really, the only fitting ending would be the death of a Maya. A Maya who had a long, hard life, who fought against racial oppression, and got an education even when others said it was impossible. Although Lwin never fully separated himself from Mayan culture like I predicted, he did separate himself from the other Mayans by the fact that he was aware of the oppression that the Hispanics forced upon them; he was aware of his own intelligence and capabilities when other Mayans were not.