The Achievement Of Desire, By Richard Rodriguez

The Detachment of a Loving Past A parent’s dream is to see their child succeed. They want their children to have a better life than the one they had. Therefore, what happens when the child believes family is holding him back from success? In Richard’s Rodriguez, “ The Achievement of Desire," he recalls his source of his scholarly success. It took him years to acknowledge the cause of how he reached a higher level of education. He alienated himself from his family and his culture in order to pursue his education and have a successful future. Likewise, I had to alienate myself from my family to be where I am today. It was necessary for me to alienate myself from my family because I changed in my pursuit towards a high leveled education. It …show more content…
I became easily annoyed with my family because they were not “educated” like me.”He permits himself embarrassment at their lack of education”(341) Like Rodriguez, ever since I became conscious of it, I wanted my parents to be more educated. I would constantly judge them for not speaking English and not being able to help me in my difficult path to college. I had to do everything by myself and I always thought that I was the only reason for my success. My parents would try to persuade me to go to a community college close to home and I refused. Not only did I feel like I worked too hard to just attend a community college, I wanted to cut all ties from my family. I knew that if I stayed with my family, my life wouldn’t change. They would hold me back in my path to scholarly success. My family would never understand my decisions and why I had to change from who I was. That is when I noticed that the pursuit for education had changed me. I did not want to be with my family anymore and I realized we were not on the same page anymore. The only difference between Rodriguez and I is that the gap between my parents and I is still there. I don 't go home as much because I feel like there isn 't much we can talk together. “Instead of the flood of intimate sounds that had once flowed smoothly between us , there was this silence”(343). We don 't talk as much and when we do I talk to them about my classes and my health. …show more content…
However, it was necessary or else I would not be where I am now. I always wanted more than what my parents wanted me to be. Unlike Rodriguez, I have not yet rekindled with my family and I am still not ready to mesh my scholar life with my family life. I am still pursuing my education therefore I cannot be close to my family. However, as I obtain more knowledge, my appreciation for my family increases. I realize that they wanted me to succeed and that they will wait for me to go back to them. Now that I am in college, I see that they helped me with my success. They were always behind me helping me even though they did not openly praise me for my efforts. Rodriguez realized his life was empty without his family when he found his end of education. Even though I still am pursuing a higher education, I do miss my old relationship with my family. I know it isn 't possible for us to be close at this moment because I alienated myself for a long time. I am attending college because I want to succeed in life and I want to be different from my family. “ I heard some Spanish academics whispering back and forth to each other, and their sounds seem ghostly voices recalling my life”(354). College life is different from home because everyone is pursuing an education. The culture is very different from the one I grew up in. Like Rodriguez, when I hear Spanish, I become nostalgic . It is in those