A Rhetorical Analysis Of Workers By Richard Rodriguez

In our world, the middle class is often looked as one of the hardest working and struggling statuses in our country yet they have no voice. Richard Rodriguez’s article named “Workers” discusses what struggles middle class workers go through and how some are discriminated more than others because of their status and culture. He talks about how he thought he could overcome the challenges of middle class worker; such as long tedious hours, hard painful work and discrimination that some middle class workers, such as himself, receive from other people that are higher up in the society. He later goes on to talk about what may have motivated him to attempt to try out hard labor rather than continue as without struggling as a successful Mexican-American …show more content…
Even though his contractor gave him the job he was still skeptical of Richard “And although he seemed to regard me with skepticism, he decided to give me a try”. This is an example of logos as he shows that not only does he not know what he’s getting into, but even his contractor believes that he doesn’t know what he getting ready to do and even feels like he truly isn’t capable of doing it. This became more evident when other co-workers that tell him “You’re doing it wrong” and “Don’t make your back do so much work.” This is important because these are experienced people that know how to do the job however he ignores the advice they give him “I stood impatiently listening, half listening vaguely watching.” Richard even admits to fooling himself to stay with the hard work after he wanted to tell the co-workers “I wasn’t afraid of back pain, I liked the way my body felt sore at the end of the day.” He eventually comes to sense and realizes the work is too hard for him when he admitted “I realized that I was fooling myself if I expected a few weeks of labor to gain me admission to the world of …show more content…
He compares this to the illegal aliens that come in and get payed less for the same job when he tells how his contractor payed them, “He later told me that he payed them collectively-For the job, though he wouldn’t tell me their wages. He said something quickly about the good rate of exchange in their own country.” This is when the Richard uses pathos to make the reader feel bad that they aren’t being treated as fairly as the other workers who have educations and who are legal American citizens. Richard went on to say “I was sad for the Mexicans. Depressed by their vulnerability.” This proves his point on how they are treated less equal because of their culture and their skin. When he sees this he understands his mother’s worry about becoming darker “I do not blame my mother for warning me away from the sun I was