Symbol

In chapter 4 of Hunger of Memory, Rodriguez writes about the issue of his dark skin compared to los gringos and even other Hispanics. To him, this dark skin is ugly and is a symbol of the poor Mexican farm worker, partly because his mother scolds him to stay out of the sun; “‘You won’t be satisfied till you end up looking like los pobres who work in the fields, los braceros’”(Rodriguez 121). Because they are a comparatively more wealthy family, the Rodriguez’s try to distinguish themselves from those Hispanics who have to work in the sun all day. As a child during the 50’s and 60’s, Rodriguez saw the inequality of both the Hispanics in his neighborhood and the African Americans in the newspaper, thereby making the generalized connection that being dark makes one poor. Richard Rodriguez’s parents saw light skin as a symbol of leisure. They wanted their children to grow up as light skinned as possible, therefore, in their minds, guaranteeing success. However, as Rodriguez grows up and becomes successful while maintaining his dark complexion, he realizes that dark skin is only a symbol of poverty in context. Because he has dark skin and drives a nice car, people assume he became dark from vacationing in the Caribbean rather than toiling in the fields. Rodriguez realizes that his parents’ symbol of dark skin is out-dated, and is slowly vanishing. In this way, Rodriguez’s dark skin is a symbol of his accomplishment by overcoming the obstacles of racism.