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Broad Analysis Assignment

In Hunger of Memory, author Richard Rodriguez describes his experiences as a Mexican immigrant. He tells anecdotes about his childhood in order to analyze the pressures which culture change imposed on him. Rodriguez also experienced guilt because he felt he had abandoned his Mexican roots by learning English, ceasing to speak Spanish. He then comes to the realization that intimacy is found in the feeling between two people conversing, not in the language in which they are conversing. Richard in the process of self-visualization becomes annoyed with himself and certain things that he sees around him.
Rodriguez is ashamed. He is ashamed with the fact his espanol is no longer his main language. The author presents, "I grew up a victim to a disabling confusion." (229). In this passage he explains how he was victimized by the transition that was beginning to take place on his mind and all around him. He was torn between his desire to assimilate into American culture and his desire to remain true to his Chicano roots. He is a "Mexican-American who, in becoming an American, forgets his native society" (230). This is what caused him to have feelings of guilt and betrayal. Rodriguez says, "I knew that I had turned to English only with angry reluctance." His desire to assimilate was fueled by the feeling of being ostracized by his peers rather then by a desire to forget his past. Richard never wanted to be in this situation in the first place. He was victimized by this transition; he was brought to this point involuntarily, and he now felt that he, "somehow committed a sin of betrayal by learning English." This portrayal by Rodriguez shows tremendous confusion and an inner struggle. This could not have been, considering it was not his decision to come to America to begin with. In his mind he believes he may have done something wrong.
The next step arrives Rodriguez asks, "But betrayal against whom? Not against visitors to the house exactly....

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