How to Tame a Wild Tongue

Synecdoche is a rhetorical device in which a part stands for a whole or a whole for a part. It is the primary literary device in Anzaldúa’s essay. The tongue is a synecdoche for language. The phrase “wild tongue” refers to the languages that Chicanos speak. The plural use of tongues is important because it represents the languages that Anzaldúa speaks, including different Spanish and English dialects and slang.

In her metaphor saying that the Chicano “walks like a thief in his own house” (44), the home functions as a synecdoche for the homeland. Anzaldúa’s essay provides a blueprint for embracing language as a means of survival. Her conclusion highlights the role Indigenous American heritage plays in Chicano identity. Through acknowledging and celebrating that heritage, including Indigenous people’s resilience and pride that preserved their “tongue” as living languages, mestizas and mestizos will endure.

The logic of synecdoche is also significant for the meaning of the essay overall. Anzaldúa’s autobiography becomes an avenue to explore an entire people. Anzaldúa presents herself as a part of a larger whole; Anzaldúa’s Chicana experience represents the Chicano people’s experience on the