Theme Of Desire For Academic Success By Richard Rodriguez

“Here is a child who cannot forget that his academic success distances him from a life he loved, even from his own memory of himself” (518), were the words spoken by Rodriguez. Why did Richard Rodriguez allow his desire for academic success to distance him from his family? The desire for academic success was overwhelming. Desire was the drug that lured Rodriguez to the point of no return. He was persistent in evading nostalgia for the life he lost nonetheless; he has his intellectual mind focused on the benefits of education. When Rodriguez was in third grade he said, “I became more tactful, careful to keep separate the two very different worlds of studies. I became bookish, puzzling to all my family and ambition set me apart” (516). …show more content…
That is, in my situation, my father has not been in my life and I plan to be in my child’s life, support him in everything he puts his mind to. In conclusion, (Why did Richard Rodriguez allow his desire for academic success to distance him from his family?) Rodriguez was torn between two worlds. One where he would enjoy his family time and be more focused on his family instead of school. The other world, which is the one he took, and that is school and all of its glory. I agree with …show more content…
Although, his choice put in him, a good position in the future, but he had to live with a lot of hardship along the way. He dealt with name-calling, it seemed to me that he was living up to others expectation instead of his own. I mean I know he wanted to be close with his family while on the other hand he wanted he wanted to be successful in life. The reason I think he chose schooling is when people would come up to him and say, “Your parents must be very proud of you.” (520) His would react with a shy smile, unfortunately his parents were not the reason for his success. His parents embarrassed Rodriguez, the fact that they did not have much education. The main reason for his success is his teachers; they made his success their ambition. That is, the nuns were like his role models, he wanted be just like them. Not in a sense of, they were teachers but the fact that they could make him an educated man. Rodriguez spent more time talking to teachers and students then he would his own family. In brief, Rodriguez allowed his hunger for schooling to take away time from his family. The choice of schooling had good and bad consequences, the good consequence of being an educated man, and the bad consequence of