Change Of Culture In Richard Rodriquez's Hunger Of Memory

In Richard Rodriquez’s autobiography, Hunger of Memory, he introduces his ironic views on change of culture early in the novel to convey the idea that change, whether for better or for worst, can unveil profound feelings of dedication, attainment, and satisfaction while simultaneously causing feelings of anger, loss, and detachment.
Rodriquez opens his autobiography with details describing his home life, where he had spoken solely Spanish with his family, but, as he began his elementary education, insistence from teachers had urged him family to speak English in the household. However, he grew frustrated towards speaking English, feeling as though he “[had] no place to escape to with Spanish,” but instead, “again and again in the days following, increasingly angry, [he] was obliged to hear [his] mother and father” tell him, “‘speak to us en ingles’” (Rodriquez 22). The sudden change of language in the household had brought much frustration to him, expressing …show more content…
Dedication and attainment towards language and literature filled Rodriquez, and although it must have been an achievement that he was proud of, he was still put to a sort of loss, believing that he had “violated the idea of the macho.” The use of the word, ‘violated,’ and italicized word, ‘macho,’ along with his heritage, showed how much of importance that ideal must have been. Emphasis is put on how he felt as though he had completely failed to meet the idea of what his family and others would deem macho, something that must have been of importance if italicized like other important points in the autobiography, just because of his newfound dedication towards the English culture of language and