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Private and Public Culture
Public perception exerts a lot of influence and pressure on people. Individuals may change certain aspects of themselves while in public to fit in better with societal norms and expectations. The question as to whether there is a distinction between the public and private self is an intriguing one. Can a person behave the same way both in public and private? Many people tend to hide a part of their private selves in public. Richard Rodriguez’s story ‘Aria’ sheds some light on this issue as the author reflects on his struggle with bilingualism.
Rodriguez suggests that there is a distinct difference between private and public culture, an idea that is quite accurate. Rodriguez grew up speaking Spanish at home with his family, but his teachers felt that this impeded his English. He was not as confident as his classmates, and this led some nuns from school to ask his parents to only speak to their children in English at home. From that moment, Rodriguez felt that his family lost its intimacy as they no longer spoke their familiar language. He thought that English was a more public language, and speaking it at home intruded upon their private culture. The story begs the question as to why Rodriguez could not be allowed to grow up bilingual. He had to give up his private persona to grow into the public one.
The short story ‘Aria’ as well as Bambara’s ‘The Lesson’ pose serious questions to educated college students. Should we desire more than we have at home? In ‘The Lesson,’ the narrator and her classmates were taken on a visit to a more expensive part of town. The purpose of the trip lead by Miss Moore was to expose the children to a different way of life, away from the poverty and oppression they were used to. Sylvia, the narrator, and her classmates were stunned at how expensive the toys were, making them aware of their poverty. This story, along with Rodriguez’s, prompts students to strive for a better life, and never settle for the things they have at home. However, this is not to say that we should be controlled by society and our peers’ ideas. We should take time to think of the things that will benefit our lives. For example, if our peers motivate us to work hard for a better life, we should follow this. However, people must not follow others blindly. Our family is still our foundation, and we must stay true to the principles we learn from them.
In reflecting upon societal expectations, it is clear that sometimes we do not have information to guide us. Public perception is a strong motivator for most people, and many cave to public expectations over what is best for them. For example, college students desire to graduate, buy homes, expensive cars, and go on expensive vacations. This is what the public expects of us. However, most times, we are not armed with enough information that we do not have to conform to public expectations, and that we also have the chance to carve our own paths. The life that an individual chooses to live is ultimately their choice, but often this is based on the things we have been taught, for example, by our families. While taking this into consideration, adults need to weigh the lessons that benefit their life and use them, leaving behind those that could be harmful, toxic, or detrimental to their wellbeing.
In conclusion, many people struggle to strike a balance between their private and public personas. Rodriguez shows this in his struggle with bilingualism, as shown in ‘Aria.’ Sylvia experiences similar struggles after being exposed to a different life in ‘The Lesson.’ She wants to appear aloof and unaffected by the trip to the city, but she later reflects on how different her life is. Private and public culture are quite distinct, but people must be careful not to lose their identity in conforming to public culture.
Works Cited
Bambara, Toni Cade. “The lesson.” Gorilla, my love (1972): 85-96.
Rodriguez, Richard. “Aria: A memoir of a bilingual childhood.” The American Scholar (1981): 25-42.
