Native Speaker Post #3

The ending of this novel was unexpected but I really love it. It is such a change in tone from the earlier parts of the novel; it’s lighter and more optimistic. Henry and Lelia’s relationship has been re-built. This is shown in the way they treat language when they work together teaching speech therapy. When I read this end scene, where Henry and Lelia teach together, in my mind I contrasted it with their first meeting in which Henry notices how carefully Lelia speaks, her critical attention to language and proper English speech. Henry also takes English speech very seriously, as Lelia remarks, constantly paying attention to the way he speaks. This relates to the theme of race in that Henry connects speech with race, and wants to speak correctly so that he can be “American.” Later, he doesn’t want to read to Mitt, afraid that his speech, which is not as perfect as Lelia’s, will somehow corrupt his son’s development.

I like how the last scene shows such growth from the hypersensitivity surrounding language earlier in the novel. The kids enjoy Lelia’s teaching because she “makes the talk unserious and fun” (348). Furthermore, Lelia “wants them to know that there is nothing to fear, she wants to offer up a pale white woman horsing with the language to show them it’s fine to mess it all up” (349). It is valuable for the children to understand that even white people can mess up when speaking English. This shows Lelia and Henry recognize the importance of being able to relax and be comfortable in your own skin if you ever want to be able to improve. Likewise, Henry enjoys his job as the “Speech Monster” (348). Even though he is still playing a role, he is having fun with it, and he is doing something important– acting as a role model for children who are not native speakers of English. Lelia reinforces the children’s individual identities when she calls out each of their names in their native languages, and breaks down barriers of racial/national identity when she tells them they have each “been a good citizen” (349). This sounds like a funny thing to say, but it makes sense in the context of the novel.