Richard Rodriguez's Hunger of Memory

Richard Rodriguez's Hunger of Memory

The universal "growing pains" that all children experience

in one form or another are easily recognized in Richard

Rodriguez’s autobiographical excerpt from Hunger of Memory.

Rodriguez’s childhood was particularly unique given the fact

that while he was born and raised in the United States, he

was strongly influenced in the ethnic environment of a

Spanish family. Although the reader is introduced to only a

short excerpt from the autobiography, he learns a great deal

about Rodriguez’s family and his relationship to it, his

conflict of speaking English versus Spanish, and the

paradox that became evident as he used English as his

primary language. Furthermore, the reader learns that

Rodriguez’s experiences have contributed to his beliefs that

a bilingual education is harmful.

First of all, Richard Rodriguez came from a family

where his parents had been born and raised in Mexico. After

moving and settling in America, Rodriguez’s parents gave

birth to him and his siblings. Rodriguez refers many times

to "los gringos" , a colloquial, derogatory name charged

with "bitterness and distrust" with which his father

described English speaking Americans. This evidence made it

apparent to the reader that definite animosity existed

between his parents and the society around them.

Resultingly, assimilation into the American culture was not

a very comfortable process for his parents. Despite this,

the authors parents created a comfortable haven for him and

his siblings in their adopted country. The author shares

with the reader how close and tightly-knit his family was.

He describes in numerous instances the "special feeling of

closeness" that he shared with his family. He also mentions

the fact that he used to feel a "desperate, urgent, intense"

feeling of wanting to be home. Spending time at home,

speaking his "personal" language of Spanish, and being with

his family gave Rodriguez comfort and a feeling of safety

that was not felt outside of his home.

Rodriguez was forced to leave that comfort and safety

every morning though once he began attending school. The

author describes hearing the cold, harsh sounds of the

English language and wishing that...

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...ory and viewpoints,

allowing the reader to make his or her own personal

judgment regarding the issue. Rodriguez explains that

"While one suffers a diminished sense of private

individualism by becoming assimilated into public society,

such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public

individualism" (39).

Finally, it was the contrast between the home and the

school settings that gave the reader a very clear

understanding of the author’s life experience. Through the

technique of flashback, the author describes how the

dichotomy that existed between his home identity and his

social identity shaped the "public" individual that he had

become. While the reader is subjected to only a short

excerpt from Richard Rodriguez’s autobiography, he

recognizes, specifically, that it was this inner core of the

family setting that Rodriguez struggled with the trial of

growing up as an American citizen. Without this family

setting, he would not have confronted the same obstacles

that influenced who he became; without the school setting he

would never have grown beyond the sheltered life from which

he came.