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Tree Girl By Ben Mikaelsen

755 Words4 Pages

In the 1980’s, many Indio’s were sexually assaulted, tortured and killed during the Guatemalan civil war. Gabriela, the main character in “Tree Girl” by Ben Mikaelsen, is a survivor of the Guatemalan civil war. Gabriela, a 15-year-old girl living in a small Guatemalan canton, experienced unspeakable things such as the deaths of the people in her canton, the witnessing of the pueblo massacre, and the fear of being caught by soldiers on her journey to Mexico. There are many important lessons to learn from this book, including how hope allows you to see past hatred. As you read through the book you learn similar lessons to the extent of what Gabriela had learned. Gabriela learned how morbid and evil humanity can be through her experiences, for …show more content…

You have 30 days to move from this property or you’ll be forced off. The soldier threatened to die”. Another example of the cruelty her and her people went through is,” I spotted only a single body lying in-front of a burning home, but then I saw another and another. Scattered everywhere among the ashes of our canton were corpses. Many who hadn’t been killed by soldiers in the canton lay dead in the open fields”. Her people, her family, were killed mercilessly by those who called themselves brave soldiers. Even though these events were significant, they were traumatizing, she had hope that her siblings and her dad survived, she had hope that she would overcome the hatred she had to go look for her family. The author, Ben Mikaelsen, described the book in grave detail. For instance, when Milagro was born,” It was like her stomach or intestines coming out. Trembling, I reached out my hands. Suddenly the head of the baby popped out, then one shoulder, and then the next”. The author gave vague details, but gave enough detail you could imagine the rest of the birth. Another instance of this is during the pueblo massacre,” they shoved into the plaza, ripping off her corte, her huipil, and then her undergarments”. During the pueblo massacre, Ben

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