Richard Rodriguez’s “Aria” is in great comparison with James Frey’s biography “A Million Little Pieces.  I have read the novel, but also found the first chapter on the internet at the website: http://www.james-frey.com/a-million-little-pieces/first-chapter/ .  In the first chapter of the website, James Frey wakes up startled unsure of where he is.  “Where am I going? You don’t know? No. Your going to Chicago, Sir,” says the flight attendant.   James Frey feels disconnected with his current surroundings as Richard feels the same way in Sacramento – A California predominantly white town.  Richard seems to think, “All my classmates certainly must have been uneasy on that first day of school – as most children are uneasy – to find themselves apart from their families in the first institution of their lives.  But I was astonished.”  Clearly Richard was must more out of place than the rest of the children.   This is only where their relations begin.

            Rodriguez and Frey dominantly examine the theme of isolation and insecurity.  Isolation is deeply exhibited in Richard’s life in their neighborhood as the white neighbors yell to them “Keep your brats away from my sidewalk!” Further displaying their  lack of togetherness with their community.  In resemblance, James Frey finds himself in a rather tough situation: sitting in the same pool hall where he used to smoke and drink with his buddies, he now finds himself in the pool hall sober.  He, now unlike the others, in insecure and had to make a decision.  His uneasy tension caused him to leave the bar and wonder whether he should drink the bottle of wine in his living room. Further stating how his new surroundings made him uncomfortable, just as it did for Richard. 

            I believe Rodriguez’s purpose of writing this article is to demonstrate how hard it is for immigrants or bilingual people to come into the United States and feel welcome.   It is clear; Richard is very “timid and shy in public” and extremely scared of the English language.  Even the sound of a doorbell turned Richard on edge.  He became uncomfortable all over again, dreaming to be in his home secure with his family speaking Spanish and making up different words for an extra boost of protection.  Rodriguez repetitively uses the term “Spanish” in his last paragraph to reiterate the familiarity.  “I was an extremely happy child at home.  I remember many nights when my father would come back from work, and I’d hear him call out to my mother in Spanish, sounding relieved.  In Spanish, he’d sound light and free, notes he never could manage in English.” He uses the term Spanish in such a positive way and speaks of happy memories.  Every time he speaks of English he becomes rigid, he was “often frightened by the sounds of los gringos, delighted by the sounds of Spanish at home.”  Again, reiterating how important his memories of Spanish were to him, and how scary this new world he was entering was, and how hard it was to become used to it.  Rodriguez is probably communicating this with America in society today, in displaying how immigrants are currently feeling.  Which goes along with why James Frey told the world his story.  He too was scared of the real world, and having to face the issues of dealing with his drug issues.  He was going to have to enter a world and be sober without someone walking him through every step of the way.  Just as a doorbell disturbed Richard, even being at a bar and seeing a beer on the table put James off edge.  In contrast with Richard, James clearly wanted the world to see that when your put in an uncomfortable situation, where you have to deal with the new chapter in your life, you must carry on and take small steps to achieve your goal.  James Frey did seek help, and it inevitably helped in and got him out on the other end.   As his is displaying to the world, in the toughest and lowest points in your life – there is a happy ending.   This story, if Richard had read it, maybe he too would have realized that even when you’re the oddest of them all, if you put yourself out there and try a little more and more, you will more times than often succeed.