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
In his autobiography, at the young age of seven, he did not see himself as an American citizen like the other children in his class, and this discouraged him from readily learning English. Ultimately, Rodriguez did learn to speak the public language. Some of the teachers at Rodriguez’s school were concerned with his and his siblings unresponsiveness in class and their unwillingness to speak English. They spoke with his parents and suggested that speaking English at home would make an easier transition for the children rather than switching back and forth. It was not until later in his life that Rodriguez realized that his teachers’ actions were ones to appreciate. The conflict between speaking Spanish and speaking English had come to a head. No longer did Rodriguez hear the warm sounds of Spanish fill his house. Speaking English began to separate his family. As he and his siblings began speaking more and more English outside of the home, primarily at school, the parents had a more difficult time communicating with their children and, therefore, conversations became strained and less frequent. While