Aria

ARGUMENT

Richard Rodriguez argues that through his own personal experiences of being a bilingual student he struggled with finding his public identity. He talks about the difficulties he faced as a child who grew up speaking Spanish, and had to adapt to the English language, and the American way of life. He felt afraid to speak out in class because he was not yet comfortable with speaking English. As a child he felt that by speaking English he was leaving behind who he was and he in some way felt that if he began to speak the public language (English) he would be displeasing his family. After having trouble in school, his parents began to speak English at home, this way Richard and his siblings would become better students and they could feel more comfortable in the society that they lived in. Soon after, Richard and all of his family members began to take part in their society and they now felt that they belonged in public. Though Richard and his family now had a better sense of belonging in the public, things at home were much different. The closeness they all shared because of their private (Spanish) language had now diminished. They were still family oriented; however, it was much different than before. Richard says “ I would have been happiest about my public success had I not sometimes recalled what it had been like earlier, when my family had conveyed its intimacy through a set of conveniently private sounds.” (38) He says that it is difficult because in some ways you lose your sense of individuality once you become a part of the public; however, he ends his piece by saying that there are two ways a person can by individualized, “So they do not realize that while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality.” (39)