The prologue and first chapter of Richard Rodriguez's
Hunger of Memory hit many points that struck close to home. In the prologue he discusses his role as an activist in support of bilingual education. He addresses the internal conflict that he often faces when trying to delineate his position, or identity, amongst his predominantly white and upper-middle class audiences and peers. To further explain his insecurities, Rodriguez delves into his childhood to where it
all began. Now. I don't come from a Mexican family nor is my native tongue anything other than english, matter of fact I come from quite a different background than Rodriguez, yet throughout the entirety of the prologue and first chapter I found myself identifying with the conflicting perspectives of identity that he often faced. It all came back to how a person identifies oneself in contrast to how others (teachers, peers, even parents) identify them, and how that perspective is persuaded by language & registers. Rodriguez uses the term
intimacy (rather than register) and uses the example of his parents' attempt to assimilate him into an english-speaking Catholic school to show just how strong of an impact language had on his identity. Since I experienced a similar force of assimilation as a child while living overseas I really connected with this narrative. What I found particularly interesting, and well written, was when Rodriguez explains how language is a catalyst in the process of intimacy deprivation amongst loved ones "Intimacy is not trapped within words. It passes through words. It passes. The truth is that intimacy leaves the room" (p.40) This realization most (if not all) children come to with or without language barriers. However, its that transition between registers and language that we begin to either lose our identity or begin to find it. One unpreventable, and inevitable outcome of assimilation that Rodriguez points out is not having the ability to control how others view you in a social context or culture. I empathize with this, because since I was a child and even now as an adult, I face the difficulty of determining just how others view me and I struggle with trying to push my own perspective of my identity on to others who are simply foreign to the idea (like the nuns at Rodriguez's Catholic school).
