what is the thesis of rodriguez essay

Richard Rodriguez’s Essay “The Achievement of Desire”: Interpretation and Commentary Essay

Despite the fact that Richard Rodriguez’s essay “The Achievement of Desire” is being seemingly concerned with exploring socially defined difficulties, experienced by representatives of ethnic minorities on the way of attaining academic prominence, the ultimate message this essay conveys is best discussed in terms of biology and demographics, simply because it provides us with the insight onto the fact that that the process of America’s educational standards being continuously lowered cannot be thought of as “thing in itself” – that is, this process is nothing but a side-effect of American society becoming increasingly multicultural.

Even though that in his essay Rodriguez never ceases to take pride in the fact that he was able to rise above educational limitations, imposed upon him by his racial affiliation and by his low social status, it would be wrong to think of author as someone who had achieved a scholarly excellence, in traditional sense of this word. And the reason for this is simple – in “The Achievement of Desire”, Rodriguez continuously stresses out the particularities of his studies as being primarily concerned with mechanistic memorizing, rather then with exploring the actual essence of a researched subject matter.

This is why the term “scholarship boy”, which is being extensively utilized by Rodriguez, throughout the essay, carries an unmistakably negative connotation: “The scholarship boy is a very bad student. He is the great mimic; a collector of thoughts, not a thinker; the very last person in class who ever feels obliged to have an opinion of his own” (Rodriguez, p. 7). As we are all aware of, students that are being referred to as “nerds”, may posses a plenty of factual information, in regards to their studies’ specialization – yet, it does not prevent them from acting absolutely dumb, while addressing life’s even simplest challenges. This can be explained by the fact that, unlike truly educated people, “nerds” are being incapable of understanding how the things they have learnt in school/college/university relate to surrounding reality. They do “know” a lot, but “understand” very little.

In “The Achievement of Desire”, Rodriguez leaves little doubt as to the fact that “nerdism” was actually the foremost characteristic of author’s existential mode, throughout his years in school: “When my brother saw me struggling home with stacks of library books, he would laugh, shouting: “Hey, Four Eyes!” My father opened a closet one day and was startled to find me inside, reading a novel” (Rodriguez, p. 1). The reason why “nerds” are being utterly dedicated to studying can be easily explained in terms of psychology – while being perfectly aware of their physical and often mental inadequateness, these people strive to take a “revenge on society” by aiming to become highly-paid “professionals” in the future, so that they could show off the “cruel world”.

As it appears from essay’s context, Rodriguez used to suffer a lot on account of being dark-skinned Mexican. Therefore, author’s academic-mindedness appears to have been nothing but extrapolation of his deep-seated mental insecurities, which in their turn, derived out of particularities of his biological constitution. While continuing with its studies, Rodriguez was solely concerned with proving to himself and to society that his genetic makeup had no effect on his ability to attain social prominence. In other words, Rodriguez’s academic success cannot be thought of as being essentially objective, because of its metaphysical negativity – author proceeded with studies not because he wanted to explore his existential potential to even a further extent, as it is the case with Whites, but because he wanted to actively oppose the biological laws of nature, without even realizing it.

This is the reason why, despite the fact that Rodriguez’s mother used to annoy him a lot by her biologically predetermined inability to derive pleasure out of reading, he nevertheless took a great pleasure in hearing mom’s reassurances that her son was just as good as White people: “Pushing back the hair from my forehead, she whispered that I had “shown” the gringos ” (Rodriguez, p. 4). Of course, such our suggestion does not imply Rodriguez’s passion for studies being less admirable – in the same way, we admire Special Olympics athletes, who despite being physically and mentally handicapped, possess plenty of courage to compete with each other in sports, while providing viewers with a good entertainment. Moreover, author has to be given a credit for remaining intellectually honest with his readers in the essay: “Books brought me academic success as I hoped that they would. But I was not a good reader. Merely bookish, I lacked a point of view when I read. Rather, I read in order to acquire a point of view” (Rodriguez, p. 7). However, we do not necessarily agree with author’s point of view on the process of him becoming educated individual as such as had been solely hampered by his parents’ low social status.

As it appears from the essay, Rodriguez himself often felt that there was something deeply unnatural about his taste for attending library, instead of doing something Hispanic young men have long ago proven themselves being “experts” on – namely, selling drugs and indulging in gang-related activities, as their full-time occupation: “In his grammar school classroom, however, the boy already makes students around him uneasy. They scorn his desire to succeed. They scorn him for constantly wanting the teacher’s attention and praise” (Rodriguez, p. 8). The reason why author’s classmates used to scorn him as “teacher’s pet” seems to be more complex then Rodriguez would ever be willing to admit – apparently, these classmates were intuitively able to recognize author’s passion for studies as being quite inconsistent with his racial affiliation. The fact that nowadays virtually ever large American city has a “Hispanic ghetto”, can be explained by Hispanics’ tendency to think of the strength of ethnic solidarity, professed by the members of their community, as such that directly corresponds to these people’s value as individuals. In the eyes of Mexican-Americans, it is of very little importance whether a particular member of their ethnic community possesses PhD in science – all they are concerned about is that such individual never goes about opposing this community’s agenda. And, the more a Hispanic youth is being educated, the less he is assumed to be capable of acting as actual “Hispanic”.

Rodriguez tells us that he did not only have to deal with his classmates’ scorn, but also with the scorn, on the part of some of his White teachers: “Later, when he (Hispanic “scholarship boy”) makes it to college, no one will mock him aloud. But he detects annoyance on the faces of some students and even some teachers who watch him” (Rodriguez, p. 8). It can be explained by the fact that mentioned teachers had a good reason to believe that Rodriguez could not have been possibly concerned with exploring the “essence” of his studies, but simply with familiarizing himself with these studies’ “appearance”, so that he would eventually be able to move into White suburbia, as an “expert on arts”, for example, and to begin acting as opponent of “White racism”, while living there.

It is well worthy noticing that in “The Achievement of Desire”, Rodriguez clearly confuses the process of attaining education with the process of reading as many books as possible: “Books were going to make me educated. That confidence enabled me, several months later, to overcome my fear of the silence. In fourth grade I embarked upon a grandiose reading program… What did I see in my books? I had the idea that they were crucial for my academic success, though I couldn’t have said exactly how or why” (Rodriguez, p. 7). The main reason why Rodriguez used to be so attracted to reading, despite his self-admitted inability to define the ideas contained in books he had read, is because he wanted to perfect his skills in English language, while simultaneously gaining a fame of a “progressive sophisticate”, just like those organic-coffee-drinking, beret-wearing and tree-hugging White Liberals, which he thought of as his role models.

And, the easiest way for Rodriguez to realize his dream of becoming just like “gringos”, was to go about studying humanitarian “sciences”, simply because in order for someone to qualify for a degree in philosophy or art, for example, he would simply need to learn how to indulge in utterly meaningless but sophistically sounding rhetoric, as opposed to learning how to solve complex mathematical equations, as it is the case with people who aim towards obtaining degree in traditionally euro-centric (White) sciences, such as physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, architecture, computer software designing, etc.: “When I traveled to London to write a dissertation on English Renaissance literature, I was finally confident of membership in a “community of scholars” (Rodriguez, p. 10). As lawyers say in situations like this – we close our case.

It goes without saying, of course, that Rodriguez must be respected for the strength of his determination to become educated individual. However, as it appears from the essay, while pursuing with such his agenda, Rodriguez had eventually grown to think of education as some sort of existential fetish, quite unrelated to his ability to contribute to America’s society well-being in any concrete manner: “I began to wonder: Who, beside my dissertation director and a few faculty members, would ever read what I wrote? And: Was my dissertation much more than an act of social withdrawal?” (Rodriguez, p. 10). All author was able to accomplish, during the course of his studies, is to become emotionally detached from the members of his family, and ultimately – from the members of Hispanic community, in exchange for acquiring an illusion of his own intellectual equality with “gringos”. Should he be congratulated for such his “achievement”? We think it might not necessarily be the case.

Bibliography

Baker, Kimberly “Gang Involvement of Hispanic Students: Discipline Policies and Dropout Rate”. 2009. Web.

Rodriguez, Richard “The Achievement of Desire”. 2009. Thinking Together. Teaching Archive. Web.

Rubenstein, Edwin “Hispanic High School Disaster – The Evidence Mounts”. 2003. VDARE. 2009. Web.

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Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez

By richard rodriguez, hunger of memory: the education of richard rodriguez analysis.

These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.

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The pain behind this memoir is so poignant and relatable, despite the uniqueness of Rodriguez's situation. He writes that he hopes people will be able to relate to his story, and perhaps this is one way of going about that: Instead of viewing his life through the specific details that the memoir paints, what could be learned by focusing on the way circumstance shapes social perception? In other words, it was easy for others to judge him as stupid when in reality, he was bright and a quick learner under serious stress, with challenges facing him that others couldn't see.

Therefore, Rodriguez experiences a frustration caused by the difference between what he believes about himself and what he is able to experience in his community. In his family, he knows he is a smart one, and he believes he understands more than people give him credit for, but that doesn't take away the real difficulties of learning a language, and perhaps the barrier does hold him back in ways. He knows that perhaps he is missing out on learning, which comes with bitter pain, and secondly, he knows that he isn't stupid.

From his own point of view, the memoirist is clearly depicting a life of sorrow and loneliness, caused by a rift between him and his school community, but from a more abstract, third person point of view, the story takes on a new color. He is struggling to maximize his potential, and then, understanding the complexity of his struggle, he longs for full expression. Because he cannot fully maximize his potential, and because he is emotionally frustrated, he is often regarded in a negative light by those he hopes to impress, filling his psychology with shame. The drama of the book is to see whether Rodriguez can forgive himself and his fate so that he can be more complete and joyful, or whether his sorrow can serve him in some way, as it does in the writing of his memoir.

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Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Parents of Richard Rodriguez

Rodriguez talks about how his parents were supporting of him and how they pushed him to learn even more and the one who pushed him the most was his mother. Despite this and the fact that Rodriguez’s mother advocated for his education, she did...

How does Rodriguez describe his life as a child?

The novel begins with a prologue in which the author gives some information about his background. He was born out of immigrant parents and even though he assimilated the culture in which he was living, he was still looked at with suspicion and...

In what ways did stereotypes about skin color shape Richard’s identity? What other stereotypes influenced his self-concept?

• Richard mentions that Mexicans are streotypes as lazy, uneducated, and prone to get into trouble with the law. This stereotype conflicted with assimilation to life in the United States.

• Richard also mentions that Mexicans are stereotyped as...

Study Guide for Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez

Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez study guide contains a biography of author Richard Rodriguez, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez
• Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez Summary
• Character List

Essays for Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez

Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez.

• A Scholarship Boy's Nostalgia
• Public vs. Private: A Rhetorical Analysis of Hunger of Memory
• Pieces of Words: Rodriguez's Identity as a Writer
• Parenthetical Pillars: The Subtleties of Phrasing and Identity in 'Hunger of Memory'

Wikipedia Entries for Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez

• Introduction

Essay: The Fear of Losing a Culture

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These Delaware grade schools were honored by Federal judges in Law Day essay contest

To celebrate Law Day, local federal judges honored grade-school children who won an essay contest on the importance of the right to a jury trial.

Children from throughout Delaware were invited to submit essays, which were judged by a panel of judges from Delaware District and Bankruptcy courts.

The four winning classes were honored in Judge Maryellen Noreika’s court in Wilmington Monday where they read their essays in the presence of Noreika, Judge Sherry Fallon, Judge Christopher Burke and Bankruptcy Judge Kate Stickles.

"All essay submissions were outstanding and reflected the thoughtfulness and effort the students and teachers dedicated to this contest," Delaware District Court officials wrote in a press release.

Winners were selected from the following schools:

Vanessa Gallaher’s fourth grade class from the Bayard School

Jamie Henry’s fifth grade class from Mispillion Elementary School

Vanessa Johnson’s sixth grade class from Dover Middle School of Excellence

Joy Schwab’s seventh grade class from the Newark Charter School

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Federal judges in Wilmington honor local school-children essayists

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Dartmouth New Deal Coalition hosts ‘Endowment is Political’ rally on Baker lawn

Speakers at the rally announced the launch of a “brave space” on the lawn for people to learn about divestment..

Approximately 150 students, faculty and community members gathered on the Baker lawn this afternoon for a pro-Palestinian rally, titled “The Endowment is Political.” The rally was organized by the Dartmouth New Deal Coalition, a student activist group that advocates for divestment from companies with affiliations with Israel.

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According to Richardson, the New Deal Coalition had initially attempted to host a brave space that included a collection of books in the encampments last week, but it was shut down when the police removed the encampments. 

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Marion Caldwell ’25 said in an interview before the rally that they attended because they could not “sit by while the College mistreats its students.”

“The more unsafe I feel protesting is on this campus, the more committed I am to protesting … and to making myself present,” Caldwell said. 

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Kent Friel ’26 contributed to reporting. 

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Stormy Daniels Stood Up Well to the Taunts of Trump’s Lawyer

By Jonathan Alter

Contributing Opinion Writer

So far, Susan Necheles’s cross-examination of Stormy Daniels feels a little star-crossed, and not just because the jury in the Trump hush money trial surely noticed when the lawyer accidentally called the CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin “Jeff Daniels” and twice referred to Gina Rodriguez, Stormy Daniels’s talent agent, as “Geena Davis.”

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