Analysis of the book hunger of memory - Essay Example

And in the case of Mexican-American author Richard Rodriguez this concepts appears apt because his autobiography titled, Hunger of Memory highlights the problems he faced from his childhood to adulthood. So, this paper will discuss how the book’s style, language, tone and the way it was written was influenced by the separation Rodriguez faced in his childhood and youth. Rodriguez, son of Mexican immigrants, was born in San Francisco but spoke only Spanish as his language of communication in his childhood.

So, when he joined the Catholic school in Sacramento, California, at the age of 6, he had speaking vocabulary of just 50 English words. Because of this limited knowledge of English, he became a confused and reticent boy with low confidence level. So, his autobiography, Hunger of Memory details those tough times in his school and the resultant separation, in a pathetic as well as sympathetic style, language and tone. Throughout the book and specifically in the chapters, Aria, Achievement of Desire, Credo and Complexion, Rodriguez’s insecurities in English, the resultant isolation or separation and the role played by his family and Catholic Church, have lead to a self-absorbed style with a lot of strain flowing.

This style brings up a lot of feelings and emotions that got built up in Rodriguez’s mind, in that phase of his life. Due to the separation he firstly suffered in his class, his emotion bordered on the feeling of loss and that got incorporated into the work. Also, this being the bad phase of his life, he distances from it and so uses the style of aloofness in these chapters. Since, Richard is also a victim of cultural clashes; he brings these elements in these parts of the work. That is, while describing how Hispanic background created the obstacles for him and prevented him from socializing with the fellow students, he uses