Hunger of Memory

“But I write of one life only. My own. If my story is true, I trust it will resonate with significance for other lives. Finally, my history deserves public notice as no more than this: a parable for the life of its reader. Here is the life of a middle-class man.”

In the prologue, Richard Rodriguez announces his intention to write a “middle-class pastoral.” The “pastoral” is a genre of literature and poetry that was popular among writers and artists of the Romantic movement. The pastoral glorified and idolized the life of the lower classes, such as peasants and shepherds. Here, Rodriguez states that he is not going to pretend to offer a picture of the lower classes. He recognizes that he was not a member of the lower classes but rather grew up in a solidly middle-class family. Here he positions himself as what he is—middle class—and as what he is not: lower class.

“The nun said, in a friendly but oddly impersonal voice, ‘Boys and girls, this is Richard Rodriguez.’ (I heard her sound out: Rich-heard Road-ree-guess.) It was the first time I had heard anyone name me in English.”

In this quote, Rodriguez hears an English speaker pronounce his name for the first time. Throughout the memoir, Rodriguez will remember how people have pronounced his name. His last name identifies him as of Latino heritage. He carries this with him as a mark of his ethnicity and minority status. The emphasis the nun and others will place on Rodriguez’s name will signify how he stands out as a minority and an exception in a mostly white world.