Richard Rodriguez The Poor Analysis

When one thinks about themselves, their first instinct is to determine what stereotypes they classify themselves under. Usually they classify themselves as a higher class; for example if they are socially poor, they may say they are middle class. The denial that occurs can now affect their lives here on out. We begin to learn these tactics at an early age without much knowledge of it. Whatever class you fall under one should never let that stereotype define who you are as a person or your character.
We absorb at a young age the many different stereotypes that there is and how many we encounter daily. The scars that these stereotypes leave on our flesh can either make or break someone. Starting off with what society labels the lowest class, poor. Poor is a term we use quite frequently to describe a human being, their living arrangements, and their education level. In reality poor is just a noun, so it shouldn’t be used as a verb. According to bell hooks, she remembered a time when she labeled her family as being poor and she was corrected because her father worked so therefore they must …show more content…
When I thought about this class the first person that came to my mind was Richard Rodriguez because his story was unique. He came from a Mexican immigrant family and used that to set his goals. He was not going to let his background limit him; that is an example of how a middle class thinks. When Richard grew up he understood at a young age what being poor was and what it meant deep down to be poor and he did not like that. He wanted to steer clear from being classified as an immigrant or poor because he knew there was more to life then to be stereotyped. Being poor meant that there was little hope in pursuing a higher class. He evaluated his parents and decided he will do whatever it takes to become somebody of a higher hierarchy. Middle class was defined as someone who spoke correctly and had a higher education and also little economic