Popol Vuh: The Dawn of Life Reader Response

The reading, Popol Vuh: The Dawn of Life was insightful and interesting; yet, misinterpreted. I have always had a curiosity with mythology and interpretations of specie development. I believe that we were put on this earth to reproduce and expand life form. The author believed humans were created to worship and remember the gods. Latin American writings were focused on religion, however, today our society focus on materialistic things. Most families do not go to church or practice religion. I am catholic, but I rarely find the time to worship or go to church. I found it very intriguing that in this interpretation, monkeys were failed humans. I would feel that monkeys would be close to human as monkeys share some of the same human characteristics.  I actually have seen monkeys breastfeed their young just as human mothers breastfeed their infants. It is amazing how alike we are! It was a very good idea for the writer to bring monkeys into the story; on the other hand, I do not agree with using the concept of mud people. In class, we discussed the interpretation of dust and mud and the relationship between the bible and the story. The Wizard of Oz and Popol Vuh: The Dawn of Life portrayed the use of animals, inanimate objects such as a scarecrow, tin man, mud, and wood to represent important aspects towards human development and emotions (bravery, courage, failure). The writer made it very clear that karma is a big factor. If people were not going to worship the gods, then those people would be punished. When the utensils and the dogs fought back, it reminded me of what goes around comes around. The humans did not treat their property respectfully, so their property fought back to teach the humans a lesson. Vucub-Caquix did not show respect, which then resulted in death. One thing that I misinterpreted was the killing of Vucub-Caquix. The story was difficult to understand because the subjects throughout the reading changed. I did figure it out after several readings of the story but feel that the translations should have been more organized.  Overall, the story did represent the Latin American culture in a unique way.