In today’s society, not much thought goes into how an author finds his or her voice. Many think of it as a “natural” talent or something someone’s born with, but that is not the case. Only a few people understand the process behind developing one’s voice. Even though discovering one’s voice and identity are not normally viewed as abusive, in some cases the process behind it can be detrimental to one’s character. In Barbara Mellix’s personal essay “From Outside, In” and Richard Rodriguez’s “The Achievement of Desire,” both of the authors discover their writing voices due to their childhoods, which left them with psychological consequences affecting them throughout various points of their lives. In Mellix’s essay, she starts off by angrily
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Even though she was not sexually abused as a child, Mellix still understood the similar psychological consequences. She experienced the cognitive effects that lingered throughout the remainder of her life, until she found her voice. In her piece about abuse she writes that, “abuse by family members continue for a long period of time and children are abused repeatedly for an average of eight years” (Mellix 266). She includes this in her main exposition to parallel her childhood of her family constantly trying to whitewash her to the experiences of the sexual abuse victims. Her family influenced her starting from a very young age, which made her question her identity and her entire self later on in her life leading to unhappiness in general. Similarly, studies show victims of abuse “are four times more likely to be unhappy in even much later life” (“Impacts of Child Abuse”). Mellix makes it very clear in her writing that she faced struggles of fitting in through out her life stating that she “grew increasingly self-conscious, constantly aware of [her] status as a black and a speaker of one of the many black English vernacular – a traditional outsider” (Mellix 267). Even though people of her race would not describe her childhood as abusive, her experiences seem to parallel those of victims of childhood …show more content…
Mellix’s parents taught her that “language is power” (Mellix 260) and Rodriguez’s taught him “with an education [one] can do anything” (Rodriguez 604). The parents of both of the authors taught them the same concept: in order to be respected and go places in life, one must be educated. This mindset most likely emerged from the fact they are people of color and in order to be on the same level as white people, they must work twice as hard. Mellix states, “speaking Standard English was their way of demonstrating [they] knew their language and could use it” (Mellix 260); this idea applies to both authors, as well as everyone who is not white and had the need to fit into society. Even though their parents did help them to be successful and brilliant writers, they also inadvertently separated them from their culture; they both felt dissociation, which is an effect of abuse (“Impact of Child Abuse”), proving the point that they were unintentionally abused. Contrasting both of the writers, there seem to be many surface level differences, for example, race, gender, age, and hometown. A big difference between them is that Rodriguez did not look up to his parents at all as previously mentioned, while on the other hand, Mellix did. Rodriguez felt “embarrassment
Even though she was not sexually abused as a child, Mellix still understood the similar psychological consequences. She experienced the cognitive effects that lingered throughout the remainder of her life, until she found her voice. In her piece about abuse she writes that, “abuse by family members continue for a long period of time and children are abused repeatedly for an average of eight years” (Mellix 266). She includes this in her main exposition to parallel her childhood of her family constantly trying to whitewash her to the experiences of the sexual abuse victims. Her family influenced her starting from a very young age, which made her question her identity and her entire self later on in her life leading to unhappiness in general. Similarly, studies show victims of abuse “are four times more likely to be unhappy in even much later life” (“Impacts of Child Abuse”). Mellix makes it very clear in her writing that she faced struggles of fitting in through out her life stating that she “grew increasingly self-conscious, constantly aware of [her] status as a black and a speaker of one of the many black English vernacular – a traditional outsider” (Mellix 267). Even though people of her race would not describe her childhood as abusive, her experiences seem to parallel those of victims of childhood …show more content…
Mellix’s parents taught her that “language is power” (Mellix 260) and Rodriguez’s taught him “with an education [one] can do anything” (Rodriguez 604). The parents of both of the authors taught them the same concept: in order to be respected and go places in life, one must be educated. This mindset most likely emerged from the fact they are people of color and in order to be on the same level as white people, they must work twice as hard. Mellix states, “speaking Standard English was their way of demonstrating [they] knew their language and could use it” (Mellix 260); this idea applies to both authors, as well as everyone who is not white and had the need to fit into society. Even though their parents did help them to be successful and brilliant writers, they also inadvertently separated them from their culture; they both felt dissociation, which is an effect of abuse (“Impact of Child Abuse”), proving the point that they were unintentionally abused. Contrasting both of the writers, there seem to be many surface level differences, for example, race, gender, age, and hometown. A big difference between them is that Rodriguez did not look up to his parents at all as previously mentioned, while on the other hand, Mellix did. Rodriguez felt “embarrassment