The Achievement of Desire
After reading the “The Achievement of Desire” by Richard Rodriguez, I have a dual feeling about the main idea. At first, it seems that he is right and all the arguments he presents sound very persuasive. However, in my personal opinion, all teenagers estrange from their parents and their families at one point or another. You do not need to be of a different social or racial group to question your parents’ authorities or to make your teacher a role model. It happens in almost all families. This is because you find out that parents do not have answers to all of your questions, while teachers seem to have. The teacher becomes a person you ask for advices and get them from and therefore it is only logical that you look u to them. It may be that a different racial background makes our parents look less intelligent when compared to a teacher, however all teenagers think that parents do not get life as it is. I believe that the problem described in Mr. Rodriguez’s article is more psychological than interracial.
There are various things that become possible with education, according to Mr. Rodriquez. From Rodriquez’s mouth, years he spent studying sound almost as sorrowful, so the main advantages of education are generally presented through his parents. Life stories of author’s mother and father, demonstrate that freedom, choice and opportunity are the three key outcomes of education. His parents lost their chances with higher education and because of that they were assigned to a life with little opportunities, no professional freedom and little choice. In my opinion, these are indeed the most important things that education gives us. However, if you have no desire to work, all the brilliant knowledge would be worthless. Although it is certainly more pleasant to be intellectual and lazy than simply lazy.
Works Cited
Rodriguez, Richard. “The Achievement of desire”. (p.597-607)
