The Bilingual World of Jade Snow Wong and Richard Rodriguez

Valeriya Komova
English Composition 2
12/05/2011

The Bilingual World of Jade Snow Wong and Richard Rodriguez

        Bilingualism is the ability to communicate in two languages. Jade Snow Wong and Richard Rodriguez both have this characteristic; their first few years were spent learning a language that was native to their immigrant parents. Wong and Rodriguez thought of this as something normal, and regarded it as a natural process. As they began school, however, their experiences began to differ. While Wong continued to learn and stay close with two languages, Rodriguez learned that he must give up his parents’ native language to develop his sense of identity. Although Jade Snow Wong and Richard Rodriguez shared a common background, they contrasted largely in their perception of it.

        At first, Wong and Rodriguez were kept from the English language within the spheres of their parents’ cultures. Wong learned Chinese and its strict disciplines, while Rodriguez learned Spanish that brought him close to his family. Wong explains that “until she was five years old, Jade Snow’s world was almost wholly Chinese, for her world was her family, the Wongs” (2). Rodriguez began school barely knowing any English words. He was very unfamiliar with these new surroundings: new language, students and teachers. But unlike Wong, he made no initial effort to participate in class or get involved in any discussions. He made a clear distinction between the “gringo” (white) society and his family. He explains that his parents “regarded the people at work or in crowds as being very distant from us. Those were the others, los gringos.” (564). His home felt private, somewhere that he felt secure and safe.

        Wong began American school at the age of five, and her parents specifically instructed her to treat the teacher as she would her mother or father at home. This immediately helped Wong to acclimate to her new environment. Soon, she became familiar with her teacher and fellow classmates. Jade even experienced pride in creating butter, an activity her teacher introduced to the class. She looked forward to being in the classroom and taking part in whatever events each day would bring. She says that “school life was comparatively simple, since for some hours each day Jade Snow became less actively concerned with what was proper or improper. In fact, she sometimes became actively concerned with what was really fun to do!” (13). Rodriguez, however, took much longer to engage in his schooling and give in to his surroundings.

        Rodriguez had a harder time submitting to the English language. When he finally accepted his new environment in school, he developed a sense of identity that helped him assimilate to his society. He gave up Spanish for English, as he faced a conflict in which he felt it necessary to choose between the two. He related to both languages differently; Spanish became his private identity, while English developed into his public identity. This change however, had its drawbacks. As Rodriguez explored his public identity, he lost touch with his private identity, or his self at home. He was no longer able to connect with his family through the Spanish language like he did before. At home, he says, “there was a new silence… As we children learned more and more English, we shared fewer and fewer words with our parents.” (571). He became more isolated from them, but he understood this as a consequence that had to follow his choice. Unlike Richard, Jade continued learning Chinese and English. Her father taught her Chinese from an old book that siblings before her also used. Her family did not separate, but remained together through a shared sense of discipline and Chinese culture, until one day when Jade began to question the teachings that her parents enforced upon her and her siblings throughout all her life.

        After a few uneventful weeks at junior college, Jade was introduced to new and challenging information in her Sociology class. The teacher said to the class, “There was a period in our American history when parents had children for economic reasons … But now we no longer regard children in this way. Today we recognize that children are individuals…” (125). This caused Jade to question her parents’ unquestioning obedience. Such thoughts inspired Jade to rethink her identity, which was molded by her parents. Although it proved to be a challenging experience, she continued to experiment with Chinese and American ideas to try and reach the balance between both cultures. She realized that “the foreign philosophy also was subject to criticism, and that for her there had to be a middle way.” (131).

        At an early age, Jade and Richard both shared great interest and joy in reading books. They were both entertained by reading, but Richard read with more of a hunger for knowledge when compared to Jade. Jade found a new world within each story, forgetting her sense of self in the adventures that were different from her everyday experiences. Jade explains that she “found in eager reading her greatest source of joy and escape” (69). Richard read to gain a point of view and to become more educated. He found a book’s lonely company pleasurable. While reading in bed, he would “feel a mysterious comfort … , reading in the dawn quiet- the blue-gray silence interrupted by the occasional churning of the refrigerator motor a few rooms away or the more distant sounds of a city bus beginning its run” (443). Although he was at first unsure of why books were so important, he came to the conclusion that “what gave a book its value was some major idea or theme it contained” (442). He also found a new world within each reading, one that was comforting and enjoyable.