Richard Rodriguez Essay

1. Rodriguez’s parents were very uncomfortable speaking English in public. Rodriguez stated that, “In public, my father and mother spoke hesitantly, accented, and not always grammatical English. And then they would have to strain, their bodies tense, to catch the sense of what was rapidly said by Los gringos.” When Rodriguez was younger his parents spoke only Spanish and his family bonded through Spanish. Rodriguez said, we transformed the knowledge of our public separateness into a consoling reminder of our intimacy. For dinner we invited new words that sounded Spanish, but made sense only to us.” Rodriguez was very shy about speaking English let alone in public since he was not very influenced in speaking English. For example, in Rodriguez’s
I don’t agree with Richard Rodriguez that having a public identity is more important than having a private identity. Richard Rodriguez abandoned his heritage entirely. I believe having a family background and heritage are extremely important. He may have gained a public identity, but what he lost most importantly was his relationship with his family. He was raised to speak Spanish and was very family oriented. When he attended a catholic school, the nuns forced him to speak English. The nuns even came to his house asking his parents if they could encourage their children to speak only English around the household. His parents, being religious would never go against the nuns. At first Rodriguez was very upset at the new changes in his life, such as his parents and siblings speaking, Spanish for him was the only language he knew that kept the family close. Overtime he accepted the changes in his family, his parents as well were speaking English; but they all grew distant with one another. They spoke less to each other and don’t connect like they have before. When Rodriguez got older his mother would join conversations she heard and would savor every little talk she had with Rodriguez because conversations were so scarce. Rodriguez said, Once I learned the public language, it would never again be easy for me to hear intimate family voices.” He fell into becoming Americanized; he no longer hears his family and lost his private individuality. Rodriguez said he doesn’t speak