Coming into Language is an autobiography by Jimmy Baca that is used to depict the power of being literate. The author illustrates the life of a young illiterate Hispanic male who had to struggle through life in school, at work place and even unable to be stand up for his right to freedom. He compared his life when he was illiterate and when literate and shows the obvious benefits of being literate against the disadvantages of being illiterate. This is a story of hardship and gloom that ends in a triumph as the character is able to overcome his misery of illiteracy and be able to talk to the world. This paper elaborates the benefits of being literate. It shows that barriers that one can overcome through education and information in order to communicate. The author shows that it is never too late to start and reap the benefits of education as long as there is will power and determination. It goes a long way to communicate those physical barriers such as prison cannot deter a determined individual from achieving their milestones and desires.
The story opens in a hospital setting where the author worked in the emergency room. The author describes the daily routine of an emergency room where they receive emergency and accident patients. His role is to clean the premises including the bloody floors and taking body parts to the incinerators. This extract shows the career perspective of dropping out of lower school. It resonates with the theme of the article which is literacy. The author explains that when they are not very busy, he would get a book from the library on female anatomy and go through the illustrations. The author used the female anatomy book to demonstrate that he was a teenager, uneducated and such a book captured his attention. This depicts the curiosity and eagerness to gain knowledge. This was in spite the fact that he could not read or write at that moment. He came across a book titled 450 Years of Chicano History in Pictures. This opened his literal world and he got a glimpse of the power wielded in a book. The book was in picture format as the author was illiterate and could not understand literal work. This did not deter him from seeking knowledge and understanding.
Two years later, he was back to prison on drug charges. He was unable to express himself and weeks later, the real culprit took a stand against him and a bail was set at $1 million bail. His curiosity for literacy world was still alive and he stole a book from the counter and carried it to his cell. Although he was still unable to read, he struggled with each word and enjoyed the musical words that the letters and the syllables produced. This paragraph gives a glimpse of police brutality and injustices in the justice system. It highlights corruption and manipulation of justice system to fit the needs of the individuals and oppress the weak and the poor. He could not afford a lawyer, nor a translator and the language barrier cost him his freedom.
Literacy freed him from his misery and solitude. He was able to communicate and express his innermost feelings. He gained insight and understanding to his life and was able to explore limitless world of literature. He found a room and a voice to be able to express himself. He was thus able to address his innermost needs including the childhood dark memories that had been bothering him for a long time. It was like a magical switch that had been flipped on to let out the inner him.
He was later involved in a fist fight and was afraid that he would lose his chance to access books and be able to write. He was taken to a dark cell where his spent 23 hours in a day. Later, a Good Samaritan wrote to him and requested for a grammar book from him. He received a book that had both English and Spanish translation. This increased his fluency and he was able to draft his first journal. His solitude cell allowed privacy and he was able to write without much distractions. He vowed not to work. His mind was ever busy with imaginations and poetry that even a solitude dark room could not stop. The prison staffs tried all means to get him to work. He was fought by other cons, put in a death row and later to the mentally disturbed cells. The author continued to narrate the horrible events that transpired while he was still in prison. He was put under medication, shock treatment until he lost his speech.
In his solitude, he lost connection to the friends, family, cons, God and even demons. He felt alone and isolated but took refuge in the poetry and art of words. Writing gave him power to endure all that; it is where he found empathy and compassion. He wrote from emptiness of hopelessness, he wrote to alleviate the bitterness and range from betrayal and injustices.
This is a story of struggle and triumph through determination and hard work. It depicts an individual who did not let any barrier stand between him and his quest for literacy. It shows that with passion, one accomplishes great milestones. The author found a refuge and a voice in the literal world. He was able to express himself and let out the darkness that had encroached his life. He had a difficult childhood that followed him his youth. In his most difficult moments, he found solitude and peace in the literal arts. This was a luminance that even a dark room could not put out (Baca).
Works Cited
Baca, Jimmy. "Coming into Language." PEN America, 1992, pen.org/coming-into-language/.
