Precis "The Achievement of Desire" by Richard Roddriguez posted by Liz Wilson

Rodriguez, Richard. “The Achievement of Desire.” 22 Jan. 2009
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2436800/Richard-Rodriguez

In the article The Achievement of Desire, Richard Rodriguez addresses the pilot of the “scholarship boy” in pursuit of academic excellence. Rodriguez acknowledges that the more he achieves academically the more of his life he loses. Furthermore, he realizes that while he was academically a good student that he too is a very bad student, relying on educators for “his” opinions.
As a young boy Rodriguez becomes keenly aware of his parents lack of understanding in what he so desires to learn. He learns quickly and successfully, the more he knows the more he is embarrassed by his parents and their lack of education. He avoids his family and withdraws from conversation with them, they seem to no longer fit in his “educated” world. Rodriguez is conflicted as he now lives in two worlds. While he feels superior to his parents he has very little self-confidence in himself. He comes to the realization as he grows older and becomes a “community of scholars” that he is isolated, feeling alone as he thinks of his family he has left behind with his advances. He becomes restless with the books and research he once loved and returns home to become reacquainted with his family and his past. Rodriguez, through his education, realizes his need to no longer be separated from his family.
A strong part of Rodriguez’s article is shown when his parents meet with his teacher and have a difficult time speaking. Rodriguez has mixed feelings when his two worlds collide. He feels embarrassed by his “uneducated” parents and feels resentful of the teacher who appears condescending to them. As a young boy he is confused by his love of his parents and his love of learning.
After reading this article I have gained an understanding into the conflicts one suffers after becoming more literate than the family they love. Upon learning and understanding the written words the parents seem inferior to some students, especially those whose parents speak a different language. The child no longer respects his parents or their authority because he now “knows” more than his parents. Literacy, once mastered, brings both pain and pleasure.