Martez Kelly

America Land of the Fat and Free

Richard Rodriquez was a young boy, new to America, where he and his family had to go through new processes to help fit in and learn the new language. At first, Richard was shy and not willing to learn. He soon overcame this, and with help of family and teachers became fluent in a second language. After learning the new language, he begins to feel like an American citizen for the first time. However, in doing so, he begins to lose some of his previous culture and individuality.

Richard Rodriquez closely links learning a second language with losing your own individuality. He also feels like as he becomes a closer part of American society his relations with family members change. He states, "No longer so close; no longer bound tight by the pleasing and troubling knowledge of our public separateness. I think he uses this as an example to show how his entire family has lost closeness; because they lost one thing that they all had in common, uniqueness just to them.
Their uniqueness or individuality had not completely left them, as they still had native accents, "garbled English pronunciation of the Catholic Grace before meals", however, now that they could communication easier with the locals, their family time was shortened.
Rodriguez hardly ever comments on the benefits of bilingual children, just focusing on his own childhood. I believe a quote that summarizes thesis entire story is found at the end when Rodriguez