Tomas Rivera’s novella “And the Earth Did Not Devour Him” is a powerful semi-autobiographical story that explores the lives of migrant workers. Even though Rivera’s novella was published a decade before Richard Rodriguez’s essay Aria, found in the biographical book The Hunger of Memory which explores Rodriguez’s educational background, both stories explore some of the same issues that non-native Hispanic-Americans face in the United States. The most prevalent problem addressed in both was the struggle with identity the young narrators faced.
In both books what sets the narrators apart is their race. Both narrators are Mexican-Americans living in a nation that is predominantly white people. Rivera’s novel focuses more on life as a migrant worker than interactions between Mexicans and white Americans, but when they do occur, there is a strong portrayal of discrimination. A single incident that sticks out was when the Mexican woman who unknowingly steals toys during a panic attack was handled more roughly than necessary to get the toys back.
In Rodriguez’s short essay Aria he focuses on the feeling that language is how he knew he was different from those around him. He heard the English language spoken in the world as sounds and inflections, but never noticed any actual meaning. On the other hand, the exclusive speaking of Spanish in his home formed the warm feeling of acceptance.
This noticeable difference between cultures is a source of shame for both young narrators. The narrator in Rivera’s novel is humiliated by being different in school. He is singled out by the school nurse to be checked for lice and is bullied by a boy in his class just because he is Mexican. Rodriguez’s shame is in his parents’ and his own inability to speak fluent English. His most embarrassing memory is of his father stumbling over words in order to talk to a white adolescent who is able to respond without difficulty. Because of the shame associated with being Mexican, neither narrator feels comfortable in his cultural identity.
In both stories there is a moment where each narrator comes to a realization that allows them to start to form their identity. In the novella the narrator questions the existence of Devil and, consequently, God. He realizes that the Earth will not devour him for asking such questions and starts to define himself. He starts to understand he does not have to hold himself to the rigid beliefs of past generations, but is able to form his own conclusions about religion.
Rodriguez has his moment of clarity when he is required to speak English at home. His family only spoke Spanish at home until the nuns from school told his parents that their children needed to practice English. The family treats it as an inside joke until Rodriguez observes his parents switch from Spanish to English when they notice him listening. After this moment Rodriguez starts to embrace English and his American side, though not without a feeling of loss of the closeness speaking Spanish brought. As he slowly becomes more and more fluent in English, Rodriguez starts to form his own identity apart from the family.
Rivera’s novella “And the Earth Did Not Devour Him” and Rodriguez’s essay Aria deal with the concept of finding your own identity as a child. This process’s difficulty is magnified by the added factor of both narrators being Mexican in white America. In the end, both narrators are able to establish some sort of self, but not until they are able to resolve their shame and break away from the thinking of past generations.
Culture identity seems to be a large part of how Mexican-Americans define themselves. I was brought up in America, as an American, and don’t posses any sort of really strong cultural ties, nor do I consider that a part of my identity. Are white American’s missing out? Or are these cultural identities constricting to who you can be as an individual?
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