Comparison of the Theme of Cultural Assimilation in Richard Rodriguez’s Novel Aria and The Negro and Language by Frantz Fanon

Although both Richard Rodriguez’s “Aria” and Frantz Fanon’s “The Negro and Language” depict the rejection of one’s native culture as a necessary consequence to assimilate to the dominant culture, Rodriguez fails to consider that his purported success serves to prove Fanon’s perspective on assimilation as futile. The sacrifice of certain aspects of native culture is imperative to the act of assimilation.

As Richard Rodriguez became fluent in English, he lost his ability to express himself clearly in Spanish because “a powerful guilt” inhibited his speech (Rodriguez 35). Rodgriguez’s progression in English, in turn, causes him to lose his ability to speak his native language because he has lost a strong emotional connection to the language and gained a new sense of guilt for having sacrificed his family language for the dominant one. In other words, he gave away a piece of himself, a language deeply tied to his identity, in order to gain something that would make him better assimilate to American values.

Similarly, Frantz Fanon discusses the effect assimilation has on a black man arriving home from France. This man “no longer understands the dialect” and talks about Operas he most likely has not seen, but most distinctly, “he adopts a critical attitude toward his compatriots” (Fanon 23). A black man from Martinique not only fully embraces French culture which he is not a part nor completely understands, but he looks down on those who have not abandoned the culture he has. In any case, the “newcomer” feels preeminent in his expression and has no remorse for having assimilated to the “white” culture. Rodriguez’s work paints assimilation as a clear necessity for success. He states in “Aria” that “while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by being assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality” (Rodriguez 34).

Assimilation’s only downfall is its inability to maintain a sense of distinctiveness in private life, but it makes up for it with a newly gained sense of uniqueness in America’s social structure. To be unique in the public is to be a part of the crowd in a unique way, and Rodriguez is claiming that this is the only way to make a name for yourself and be successful. Rodriguez goes on to say that only when he was able to consider himself an American, could he “seek the rights and opportunities necessary for full public individuality” (Rodriguez 34). Rodriguez is pointing to the act of identification with a native culture impeding one’s ability to feel a sense of belonging as a direct cause of limitations of opportunities for the “unassimilated. ” As a result, it is put upon the individual to escape the antipathy they have towards white Americans or the “others” to achieve inclusion and success. The expectation of assimilation creates internalized racism within the individual attempting to adapt.

As put by Frantz Fanon, “the Negro arriving in France will react against this myth of the R-eating man from Martinique. . . and he will go to war against it” (Fanon 21). The black colonized man will become aware of the perception of himself had by the French, and it is that perception he seeks to disprove by attempting to assimilate. In this effort, the internal conflict arises when the black colonized man is confronted with the challenge of rejection himself and all he once was for this new idea of what is right for the white man. Fanon affirms, “The Antilles Negro who wants to be white will be the whiter as he gains great mastery of the cultural tool that language is. ”(Fanon 38).

Language creates barriers in the same way it creates pathways, and taking advantage of language can open up a whole new world, especially for the black colonized man. However, the black colonized man focuses so intensely on the language which he hopes can make him a member of the western world that he fails to realize that not only does the attempt bear no fruit, but it takes a toll on his self worth and dignity. Given assimilation is not a rewarding practice, any attempt to assimilate is ineffective and pointless.

Correspondingly, Fanon remarks, “the Negroes’ inferiority complex is particularly intensified among the most educated, who must struggle with it unceasingly”(Fanon 25). Negroes feel the constant and innate pressure to not appear savage especially with aristocrats which are seen as superior even by the Negroes themselves. This pressure or struggle the black man puts on himself is not only self-created, but it is an unnecessary action to try and homogenize when hegemony remains the same. Fanon demonstrates that “in France one says, ‘he talks like a book” while in Martinique they say “He talks like a white man”(Fanon 21).

With the new acquisition and proficiency of the French language for a black man from Martinique, he is no longer an archetype, but a peculiar man who defies boundaries of identity. This black colonized man is as much supernatural for the white man and he is for his compatriots, so it is almost as if he has lost a place for himself in both Martinique and France leaving him stranded.

Internalized racism manifests itself in Rogriguez’s point on assimilation. After Rodriguez learns English and “assimilates, ” he remarks, 'those middle-class ethnics who scorn assimilation seem to me filled with decadent self-pity, obsessed by the burden of public life”(Rodriguez 35). Those who denounce assimilation do so because they feel the need to compensate for their sense of inferiority and fear of inclusion by asserting that assimilation is in no way necessary. Given that Rodriguez is an “ethnic” himself, his perspective on the matter shines a light on the way “public life” has caused him to feel about his own identity and self-esteem. He reveals, “I celebrate the day I acquired my new name (Rodriguez 34).

Rodriguez feels grateful for having been given the chance to assimilate, and he has no regret for having surrendered his private individuality in the name of assimilation. His desire to conform is in no way misguided, but it stems from a larger belief that to be included in the dominant culture all ties to individuality need to be abandoned.