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  • Essay / "Rodriguez's "The Fulfillment of Desire": A Portrait of a Student

    In his essay The Fulfillment of Desire, Richard Rodriguez writes about his experiences as a student. When writing about his education, Rodriguez frequently mentions a conceptual archetype of personality. Originally conceived by author Richard Hoggart, Rodriguez identifies with the Fellow and relates his experiences in depth to the archetype. As defined by Hoggart in The Uses of Literacy, the Fellow is a. student who, despite an economically disadvantaged family, manages to develop intellectually and achieve remarkable academic success and distinctions Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? the original essay In The Fulfillment of Desire, Rodriguez makes critical observations about himself and his previous life, comparing himself in many ways to Hoggart's supposed fellow. In fact, Rodriguez's past experiences coincide with Hoggart's description. Hoggart. Hoggart writes that “The boy spends much of his time in the physical center of the house, where the woman's spirit reigns” (878). This is also the case for Rodriguez, especially regarding his relationships with his family, and his mother in particular. He even credits his mother as the one who pushed him towards his future, wishing a better life for his children; according to Hoggart, “The boy must cut himself off mentally so that he can do his homework as best he can” (624). Rodriguez was often found in the closet, secretly reading novels. Finally, comparing Rodriguez to Hoggarts Scholar Rodriguez, [] waited for them [the professors] to tell him which books to enjoy (625). This was an example of the problem of education suggested by Herbert Spencer. Rodriguez, similar to Hoggarts' fellow, learned in a receptive and submissive manner rather than through independent activity (880). Rodriguez, the student, could have broken out of the scholarship mold if he had relied on himself, on his own thoughts and had stopped believing that his teachers and his books were the only sources of education, of information and personal validation. Rodriguez is the ultimate scholar. . However, this is only true for his youth and not his present. In no way does Rodriguez describe himself as a stock marketer as a professional. After his education, Hoggart declares that the fellow [] does not belong to any class [] He cannot confront his own working class directly, because this, since the intuitive links have disappeared, would require greater mastery in dealing with himself that he is not capable of doing it. (882). This is not the case for Rodriguez who is not ashamed of his youth, but reflects on his past, to try to understand his present. Despite his childhood similarities to the Hoggarts archetype, Rodriguez didn't have as much trouble reclaiming his friends and family from the abandoned classroom. The alienation from his family caused by his quest for knowledge and the respect of his teachers was not as complete as Hoggart would suggest about his fellow. According to Rodriguez, he [] spent three summer months living with [his] parents, relieved to see how easy it was to be home. It no longer seemed very important that [they] had little to say (638). Hoggart was stern and definitive in his description of the fellow. According to Hoggart, the student, because of the way he learned, was doomed to an inescapable state of pseudo-intellectualism, as well as eventual and ultimate disenfranchisement. In the words of Hogwarts, [the fellow] oscillates between contempt and desire (883). This is not the case for Rodriguez, who understands his past and has no problem exorcising his childhood demons. This is how the distinction between the two.