Aria was written about the different language of Spanish and English, but it really was about feeling different in America and around those who were not Latino. Those of Latino origin not only had a difficult time with the different culture and the way they were being treated different, but around the language as well. The family and Spanish language made him comfortable and secure, and this is likely true for all immigrants. He equated the English language with aggression and the Spanish language with quiet and comfort. “Often, the speech of people in public seemed to me very loud, booming with confidence”. I never thought of it in this manner but I imagine that it was uncomfortable being around people fluent in another language that you hardly speak.
Daughter of Invention concerns a family new to America who attempts to succeed. This is probably typical of any new Latino family to America. Expectations are high, as the mothers were, and the struggles are real. The mother struggled by making things and hoping to become a millionaire with one of her inventions. “when I make a million. I’ll buy you your very own typewriter”. The daughters struggled being accepted in school, as this was more common when there were less Latino immigrants in America than there are today. A young girl who struggled in high school, in growing up and wishing her mother would give her more attention is more than just typical teenager struggles for immigrant children.
America is about feeling different in America. Alone and unable to fit in. It was likely very difficult to have to accept government assistance and live so differently from those who were not immigrants. Things as simple as food and television were so culturally different for them. Television shows others watched were not part of their family. “Dad didn’t watch football on Sundays”. As the author did, immigrant youth have a lot of struggles to fit in. The language is difficult to learn and the feeling of being out of place is common.
Puerto Rican Obituary is an obituary of individuals who worked hard and wished for the American dream of winning the lottery. Yet they died working but living in poverty “From the nervous breakdown streets where the mice live like millionaires”. Living in America probably seemed like it cost them their lives as the culture was so different. Many immigrants likely dreamed that America would be better and they would be happier, yet did not find those dreams after arriving here.
Kipling and I is about a man holding on to hope through a poem by Kipling. Immigrant Latinos had to hold on to something to give them faith when they had to struggle just to work or keep warm. “I clung to my poem as to faith”. Proud and lonely seemed to be the common disposition. Many had hoped that America would take away the loneliness and the poverty in which they lived as a Puerto Rican in America. Hope had to come from somewhere and it did not matter if it was a simple piece of paper. The author burned his poem in the end, seemingly losing faith, like I am sure many have. Yet, we are left to assume that life continued as it does for Latino immigrants.
Bibliography
Alvarez, J. (n.d.). Daughter of Invention.
Blanco, R. (n.d.). America.
Colon, J. (n.d.). Kipling and I.
Pietri, P. (n.d.). Puertorican Obituary.
Rodriquez, R. (n.d.). Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood. Hunger of Memory.
