Rodriguez & His Lack of Hunger for Memory

If you were to ask me what my honest opinions would be on Richard Rodriguez's Hunger for Memory I would say that I was disappointed. I may have gotten the wrong impression for his overall perspective on his upbringing, but the general tone I received was that he was trying to hide his culture and where he came from. In Rodriguez's memoirs, he often explains how he asked his mother to speak English in a Spanish-speaking household, and how he would hide his good grades from his siblings so that he didn't have to deal with the ridicule that he would receive if they found out about him. Rodriguez also explained the times when he would hide in his closet just to read a book and this gave off the impression that he wanted to escape his atmospheric reality.



I was unimpressed by his lack of pride in his family and culture. And the reason being is because I saw a lot of myself in Richard Rodriguez. Perhaps, it was because my mother didn't attend college, or because my dad didn't put his degree in finance to use. I wanted badly to be that one person in our small family to prove that not only could I balance my love of learning and reading books with being able to participate in leisurely activities throughout my teenage years, but that I could also use that same balance when I graduated and advanced in my career. The only incredible difference from that of Rodriguez's family and my family (because I can't seem to help myself from comparing) is that my parents spoke English to me and didn't raise me to speak Spanish. Perhaps, this is why Rodriguez felt so inclined to get as far away as he could from his culture.



Undoubtedly, one would always want to move away from stereotypes. I believe that this was the motivation that sparked Rodriguez for being so successful. In the section "The Achievement of Desire", Rodriguez truly expresses his discontent with his parents' lack of desire for educational advancement. "If, because of my schooling, I had grown culturally separated from my parents, my education finally had given me ways of speaking and caring about that fact." (585) This quote justifies how Rodriguez always intended on growing apart from his family; as extreme as this may sound, he intended on hurting his parents and siblings and in turn choosing a path where he knew that his relationship would falter. One could argue that if his parents didn't make the decisions to stay focused on providing financial means of stability for their family, then Rodriguez wouldn't have been exposed to the level of schooling that created a flourish of desire for learning. While I stand behind Rodriguez's pushing his parents to speak English and try to read books in English, as well, I don't think he should have created such a distance between him and his family. What does it matter if your siblings tease you or your parents don't seem to understand? It's all a sign of love and care, no matter what way you look at it. Maybe if Rodriguez would've held on for a while longer, rather than giving up, he would've reached through to his family and they would've been on the same educational level (or close to it as possible) as he was.

The Rules of Fight Club

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk is one of my favorite book-turned-movies. Although, it is a bit hard to separate Brad Pitt and Tyler Durden, there couldn't have been a better interpretation of how egotistical and hilariously maniacal this character was when it came to explaining what a fight club was all about. Not only did it represent brotherhood amongst "men raised by women" but it also was a major outlet for releasing frustration, and finding distraction in real problems. Tyler is the ultimate problem child; he fits in perfectly as the leader of fight club when he takes all the newest members under his wings to explain the eight rules of fight club:

1) You don't talk about fight club.

2) You don't talk about fight club.

3) When someone says stop, or goes limp, even if he is just faking it, the fight is over.

4) Only two guys to a fight.

5) One fight at a time.

6) They fight without shirts or shoes.

7) The fights go on as long as they have to.

8) If this is your first night at the fight club, you have to fight.

(48-50)

Each of the rules are clear and concise; they are each fair rules. Since, I believe that the narrator and Tyler Durden are one in the same (Tyler being the narrator's alter ego), you can feel the fire in Tyler's eyes and the passion he feels when he is explaining each rule of fight club. We also learn just the kind of person Tyler is because he "works night jobs where he causes problems for the companies; he also makes soap to supplement his income and create the ingredients for his bomb making which will be put to work later with his fight club" (Fight Club, Wikipedia.com).

The fight club is ultimately a secret society, thus the first two rules, where its members can share an outlet that is just as valuable as it would have been had its members joined the boy scouts, taken karate classes, or joined a fraternity in college. The third rule is my absolutely favorite, simply because anyone can pretend to limp if they are tired of fighting but the best part is that it is a rare commodity - when a fight is initiated, it is rarely ended out of boredom or losing interest. The members of fight club are just as passionate about their secret society as Tyler is.

Diaz & Ruiz: A Collision of Puerto Rican Families

Reading the excerpt of Fiesta by Yunot Diaz, I was pleasantly surprised to see another Puerto Rican childhood being expressed so vividly. Upon reading Yunior's interpretation of his father and his mother, I remembered feeling the exact same way when I was a child. Diaz has an interpretation of his childhood like no other, and his relaxed style of writing makes the reader feel as though they are listening to a story over coffee or drinks.

Diaz is a great storyteller; in fact, I would be interested in reading the rest of his book. Being exposed to just one chapter was simply not enough. I was incredibly interested in finding out what happened with Yunior's Father and whether his mother ever found out about the affair that he was having. I found it incredible that he would bring his sons into his mistress's (or "sucia", as so lovingly referred to by Yunior and his brother) and wondered if this was their father's way of implementing his version of quality time together. His mother was certainly the less strict parent and she offered comfort to Yunior when he was carsick. "Como te sientes? Mami asked over my shoulder when Papi pulled into the turnpike. She had her hand on the base of my neck. One thing about Mami, her palms never sweated." (27)

In some ways, just with a brief exposure to Fiesta, it seemed as though Mami was the stronger force within the family; she was the person who held everyone together. If Mami was sad, the children were sad, and if Mami was happy, then everyone was happy. Papi seemed to be more of the voice of power, rather than the vision. While he was respected, he conveyed his love for his wife and children in less apparent ways: like bringing his sons on small road trips to visit his "sucia" and making sure Yunior was OK with his carsickness by briefly asking "how's the feeling" (28). This kind of unspoken love amongst the family, was the kind of love that was normal and natural in Puerto Rican households and it was comforting to encounter Diaz's interpretation of a Puerto Rican childhood.