Rodriguez's

The role of the English language in Richard Rodriguez’s “Gains and Losses” The essay “Gains and Losses” by Richard Rodriguez deals with one of the most important and controversial questions in American society–what is the role of the English language in the United States and throughout the rest of the world? As one finishes this essay, though, one might be left with an additional, and possibly quite different question – what role should the …

…faces of strangers in the crowd going by” (53). His reference to these people as strangers is particularly troubling because it shows that he truly considers himself to be different from them – he is an English-speaking American, and they are Hispanic-looking strangers. One must never underestimate the importance that a native language has for a group of people, and one must always be careful when trying to impose languages because the side effects can be disastrous.