Richard Rodriguez's, The Achievement of Desire

This autobiography has so much to say about the individual. It is obvious that from the beginning of school, that Richard wanted to please his teachers and their idea of what was important about Western Culture. Hiding behind books, his family became irrelevant to his future and he denounced the importance of family for the importance of books and education. His identity as a "scholarship boy" accepted a western education without embracing his own cultural heritage. He thought all his answers could be found in the books he read, but later realized that through this method, he was never allowed to come to his own understanding, it was always the author's understanding. I can see how the pressure and differences between education and a working-class family can put a jagged gap between the importance of family and culture. Richard's family did not have a western education and as Richard looked to succeed, he saw his parents as stupid for what they did not know. I think one of best things that Rodriguez comes to understand is that, "education requires radical self-reformation". Through this theory, Rodriguez realizes the lack of self-esteem he had because of his rejection of his family. He didn't want to reform himself, he wanted to become something completely different than he saw his parents. I agree with Rodriguez's statement, and think that self-beliefs should be challenged for rationality, but that the past and one's familiy also plays a role in educational reformation, setting the balance between who one is before an education, along with the benefits and insights that an education can bring.