Speckled People

The Speckled People, written by Hugo Hamilton was a memoir about a family divided by cultures.  It is the story of a young child's life, trials and tribulations narrated by Hugo himself.  Hugo shares his story and his life of a confusing journey trying to establish his cultural roots and identity. 

Hugo's mother was from a small town in Germany and his father was from Ireland.  His mother lived in the times of Germany under the rule of the Nazis.  She left Germany and went to Ireland where she married a man named Jack Hamilton, Hugo's father. 

Growing up, Hugo is divided by two culturs and languages in German and Irish.  He is also divided by the English language in which most of the other kids in Dublin use, which is where Hugo lived.  To fit in with the other kids and to adapt to culture, Hugo believes him and his siblings need to speak English to have normal lives.  This brings a struggle between the kids and their father, Jack because he believes in the old language of Ireland and believes that the kids shouldnt speak English. 

Jack's goal was to try to make Ireland a new Germany and to reverse the pattern of natives immigrating to America or England.  He wants his children to speak the native language and not adapt to English or even their mother's language, German.  He wanted to restore the Gaelic language for the sake of giving back the Irish people their unique identity.  Hugo was kept from society by his father and even sent to Irish schools. 

Hugo's mother doesnt interfere with the language war between her children and their father because she believes she is in a better place and knows where she came from to get there. 

As Hugo grows older, he begins to establish his own beliefs and resists the controlling father and his behavior.  He begins to make his own cultural decisions.  As the story ends, his father suffers a weird accident of a bee sting and eventually died.  The struggle that Hugo faced was fought thorugh and he started to make his own story.  The book is written to help convey that people's cultural roots does have an effect on people growing up but as they mature they will find themselves making their own decision and writing their own name in history.

The story that Hugo shares with the world is very good and gives everyone a sense of the cultural differences and cultural roots that establish people.