Aria A Memoir Of A Bilingual Childhood By Richard Rodriguez Analysis

The primary argument that Richard Rodriguez addresses in Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood is the issue of bilingual education in America. He claims that he can’t be fully merged in American Society due to his “private” life, in other words his second language. Rodriguez also claims that because his original language is not the same as the “public” language, he is unable to create intimacy with someone who speaks a different language other than the public one. Lastly, he claims the use of a native language is impossible to have coexist with the “public” language. “It is not possible for a child, any child, ever to use his family’s language in school” (Rodriguez 448).
Rodriguez uses his own personal experience to strengthen this argument …show more content…
Although he first gives off the impression that the language does not play a role in creating and maintain relationships by saying “intimacy is not created by a particular language; it is created by intimates” (Rodriguez 461), he later goes on to explain this is not exactly what he means. The language itself, whether it be Spanish or English, does not matter, the difference between whether is it the public of private language is what factors into whether or not a person is able to build and grow in their connections. “It was not because [he] spoke English instead of Spanish. It was because [he] spoke public language” (Rodriguez 461). In other words, someone who speaks primarily Spanish is not able to have an intimate relationship with another who speaks primarily English in a place that regards English as the public language. Rodriguez describes growing further from his family when he began to take on more and more speaking of the public language. He became more intimate with friends who spoke English as well and begins to realize the intimacy his family and family friends have with one another can’t be accomplished between them and English speakers. Even as his own siblings begin to adopt more of the public language, he becomes aware of the fact that, similar to himself, the …show more content…
is so far behind in advancements academically and socially. Every other country encourages and supports bilingual education. In each claim and argument Rodriguez presents there are harmful consequences that the reader takes away from them. He believes that one’s native language and the public language are unable to coincide, not based on research or statistics, merely based on his own personal experience with not being able to handle the two. The takeaway from this belief is that there should only be one language in America, the public language. While every other country grows and prospers in multiple languages, our country and our people would be perfectly assimilated within the country but with no other outside country. Instead of resisting anything but one language, our country should be accepting and encouraging multiple languages. He claims as though it is impossible and unrealistic to live both a private and public life again based on his own personal experience, but he fails to mention the thousands of people who do so with no trouble. In order to “fit in” and be more in touch with the public language, a person does not have to give up who they are as a “private” person. His idea that being unique and different than the crowd makes you not a part of the crowd does not take into consideration anything but language. There is more to people than the