Peter Balakian's life, as depicted in Black Dog of Fate is very different than that of Art Spiegelman's in MAUS and Richard Rodriguez's in his autobiography Hunger of Memory. Parallels can be drawn between all three; for example, each man grew up in a home with parents capable of conversing in a language other than English. However, distinctive differences are discovered as one looks closer at the lives of these men. As each man in analyzed, these differences are enough to determine possible explanations as to why Peter Balakian does not struggle with his ethnic identity as Art Spiegelman and Richard Rodriguez do. Peter Balakian's family and its members as well as his socio-economic status all shape his identity and determine possibly why he does not struggle to form one that balances his Armenian and American facets.
In both MAUS I and MAUS II, the reader is made aware of the eternal presence of the Jewish Holocaust in the Spiegelman house as well as every relationship that the first (Vladek) and second (Art) generation survivors participate in. This looming, horrific presence is enough for Art Spiegelman to struggle with the idea of how the Holocaust and its aftermath play into his own identity. This is a huge complication absent from Peter Balakian's life and therefore the construction of his identity. All humans, regardless of their age, economic status, heritage, nationality, and family will struggle with forming a comfortable identity when the most important event of their lives occurs before they were born and did not directly involve themselves. It is evident that Art is a victim to this struggle of identity formation because of the Jewish Holocaust that his father and mother survived during World War II in Europe.
In addition, circumstances found in Richard Rodriguez's Hunger of Memory also can be possible explanations as to why Rodriguez struggles with balancing the ethnicity of his parents as well as the American portion of himself that is derived from the world around him. In Richard Rodriguez's autobiography, much emphasis is placed on the socio-economic status of Richard's family and the impact of education on one's life. Mexican-American Rodriguez writes of his sense of betrayal when he feels forced to give up his native Spanish for the English spoken in the larger world around him (Rodriguez 50). However, Rodriguez soon immerges himself into collecting all of the knowledge and education he can. Because of his poorly educated parents, Richard is living with an example of what he does not want to be (Rodriguez 49). There is also an emphasis placed on the lower economic class that the Rodriguez family falls into (Rodriguez 46-48). Convinced that education is the key to life success, Richard is influenced by what he feels is the necessity of rising above lower class. He visits the wealthier homes of his classmates and learns to acknowledge things like how to please friends' parents that will allow him to be invited back to a more luxurious life (Rodriguez 122). To do all of this, Richard feels he must give up Spanish language and his Mexican lifestyle. Caught up in his desire to leave his ethnicity behind but unable to do so because the world sees it as written in his face and color, it is little wonder that Richard Rodriguez struggles to balance his ethnic identity with the larger world around himself.
In contrast, the life of Peter Balakian is in many ways different enough from Art Spiegelman's and Richard Rodriguez's that he does not feel the struggle in assuming a confident ethnic identity. One major difference is the family of American-Armenian Peter Balakian. Although, like Art Spiegelman and Richard Rodriguez, Peter's parents speak a language other than English, they are not limited to this other language and they are not limited in their ability to speak English. Art's father speaks a broken English and often reverts back to other languages to express himself (MAUS II 99). Richard Rodriguez's parents struggle with their mastery of the English language as they learn the language at a much slower rate than Richard (Rodriguez 13). Mrs. Rodriguez is the family spokesperson, but often prefers to speak the minimum to accomplish a goal than to struggle with words (Rodriguez 24-25). In contrast, English is the primary language spoken in the Balakian house, unless the content of the conversation is not for Peter's ears (Balakian 5). The only person in Peter's life that is chooses to use Armenian words in general conversation is Peter's grandmother, who does not live in Peter's house. She sprinkles in words of her native language during their time spent cooking and bonding once a month when Peter visits her home (Balakian 10). Peter does not feel forced to learn a different language and thus accepts his Armenian heritage as a substantial portion of his identity. He benefits from the rich culture his grandmother can provide through her language and the Armenian food they prepare together. However, Peter does not feel the pressure to choose between an Armenian and American identity and thus can easily flow between the more American lifestyle at home and school and the Armenian one while with relatives such as his grandmother.
