Summary Of Richard Rodriguez's Aria

Literature > Richard Rodriguez’s Aria

Richard Rodriguez’s Aria is a personal memoir about bilingual education. Throughout his essay he represents the power of the individual to defeat the language barrier and he tells how he overcame this particular problem as a child. He is very happy to celebrate his new name because he feels that he is part of the American society as a public individual, he is no longer afraid to express himself in public and by loosing the language of home he began to feel that his childhood started to end.

The acquisition of his new name was beneficial to Richard because it was the first step that made him realize he is indeed American and he is part of the American society. As a result of the language barrier he could not communicate with his teachers, hence he could not learn because his environment did not really foster an understanding of the English language. His words could not form complete thoughts and he stayed quiet all the time in school. Throughout
He was scared to speak up because he didn’t just have to express himself, but also he had to be understood by others. After the nuns were visiting Richard’s home his family started to speak English at home and he begun to feel that he was loosing the strong attachment to his private language. Everywhere he went in his home the family members were speaking in English. After he couldn’t hide behind his private language anymore the silence was broken in public language. One day in school he spoke out loud and got very confident because he wasn’t even thinking that it was strange that his classmates understood him. He wasn’t a socially disadvantaged child anymore and he started to feel that he belonged in public as a public