Rivera’s “…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him” and Rodriguez’s “Aria” are contemporary texts which touch upon racial conflicts faced by Mexicans during the Chicano movement.
Both texts explore the pain and embarrassment of being an outcast, a feeling shared by the main characters, and their desire to gain a sense of belonging in American society. Most significantly, the characters’ social strife is illustrated in their experiences with public education. In Rivera’s novel, the young protagonist reflects on the events of the past year with a sense of resignation arising from instances of exploitation to himself and his people. “It’s That It Hurts” the protagonist is continually teased at school for being Mexican, and is singled out and punished when trying to defend himself against bullies. Angered by the blatant racism, he is also filled with shame for his heritage and being “different.”
Similarly, Rodriguez recounts his school years and the discomfort that comes from entering a new environment. Rodriguez found himself lacking proper communication skills and his embarrassment motivated him to learn English. Only through proper communication did he feel he could avoid disadvantages in his education.
Another connection between the texts was the deep compassion that the mothers had for their children. In Rivera’s “A Prayer,” the mother portrays a stereotypical martyr when begging for the safe return of her son from war. She even goes so far as to boldly offer up her “very own heart” for that of her son.
Though not quite as dramatic, I sensed a similar desire from Rodriguez’s mother as she offered him the chance at a good life. When the nuns came to visit their home and complain of Richard’s lack of fluency in English, his mother didn’t hesitate in requiring that her children practice their English at home. This appeared to be a significant sacrifice because of the intimacy of the Spanish language Rodriguez so often discussed.
Along those same lines, I also noted a strong desire to maintain community and family in these stories. While each chapter of Rivera’s novel represented an individual memory, overall, the hope and strife of each separate character was shared to some extent with the people around them. Of all the chapters, the two that I felt best portrayed these aspects were “The Little Burnt Victims” and “When We Arrive.”
In the former, neighbor children of the protagonist were killed in a tragic turn of events after viewing a boxing movie and attempted the same career path. I found it ironic that when the Garcia’s deviated from their original Chicano way of life to follow this rags-to-riches “American dream”, they ended up worse off than they were before. “When We Arrive” provided an example of how tight-knit the Chicano community was when it came to their constant migration. Despite the weary self-delusion this chapter radiated, the unity in shouldering their burden together helped the migrants to look to a better future and provide solace to their dismal present.
Like “The Little Burnt Victims,” “Aria” demonstrated the threat to close family ties that can occur when the protagonist began to acculturate himself into American society. As Richard became more fluent in English, so too did he begin to grow more ashamed of his parents and more distant from his native language and the intimacy his family used to share through their conversions in Spanish. As a reader it was sad to watch him transform from reacting joyfully to the language common only in the home to practically ceasing to use it at all in an attempt to fit in.
Question: What are the possible advantages and disadvantages to the bilingual education teaching method? Is it more important for students to maintain a sense of their heritage, or to be able to fit in and compete in society by acculturating to their environments? Can there be an effective blend of both?
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