In his essay “The Fulfillment of Desire,” Richard Rodriguez acts as both writer and reader in response to a book written by Richard Hoggart titled The Uses of Literacy . Rodriguez discovers a parallel between his own life and that of what Hoggart considers a “scholar.” A scholar is defined as a child from a working-class family who feels like he “can’t afford to look up to his parents…so he focuses on the benefits that education will bring him.” For Rodriguez, discovering and reading the definition inspired him to find the courage to realize and admit that his academic success was due to his early emotional separation from his family and culture. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Discovering Hoggart's book was an epic moment in Rodriguez's life. His nostalgic experience is expressed when he writes: "For the first time, I realized that there were other students like me, and I was thus able to define the meaning of my academic success, its consequent price : loss”. Rodriguez's academic success began when the "deepest love" he had for his parents turned into "embarrassment for their lack of education." Like Hoggart's fellow, he began to isolate himself from them and convey his respect to his teachers. He realized that his parents had no room for societal evolution and that if he chose to follow in their footsteps, he would be doomed to the same working class life in which they were marginalized. Rodriguez's embarrassment towards his parents served as a catalyst for continuing his education. By idolizing his teachers, he realized that he was opening the doors to success. The only problem with opening the doors to success The intimate and family life in which Rodriguez found so much pleasure was abandoned in an attitude of self-deprecation. He began to associate pleasure with inferiority. For a scholarship holder, it is “clear that education is a long, unglamorous, even humiliating process…”. Rodriguez would go to the library and check out the maximum number of books. Many of these books were recommendations from teachers he so admired or from librarians who had acquired a new affection for him. This reflects Hoggart's words when he wrote: "...the fellow rarely discovers an author for himself and for himself." Whenever Rodriguez discovered a book on his own and found it enjoyable, he would ignore it. There was no room for pleasure in his life. In primary school, Hoggart Scholars endure a constant feeling of harsh loneliness. The fellow was always the first to answer a professor's question, much to the dismay of the other students. In his family life, the scholar has the impression of not identifying with his family, which is why conversations are always kept to a minimum. The books Rodriguez brought home are the epitome of Rodriguez's imaginative student and scholar. These are books that dissociate him from his family. This loneliness is also revealed in Rodriguez's student life. There seemed to be a barrier between Rodriguez and a normal social life. Instead of interacting healthily with others, he hid behind his books. When Rodriguez was a graduate student, he traveled to London to write a thesis on English Renaissance literature. He found himself in a lonely community of other scholarship kids whose “eyes averted the moment [their] gazes accidentally met.” The realization of such a life had a profound effect on Rodriguez. Nostalgia began to set in and he couldn't wait to rememberthe warmth he had felt as a child. Rodriguez openly states that he was the quintessential scholar, but I believe he has since shed that label. A scholarship boy is defined by Hoggart as a child who attempts to separate from his family because of the embarrassment of association. He is the “strange man”. However, the tone Rodriguez uses in “The Fulfillment of Desire” is more nostalgic and melancholic than self-conscious. Rodriguez writes openly about his past, even though it took him more than “twenty years to admit it.” Hoggart asserts that once a fellow has transitioned into a scholar, he or she will never feel a sense of belonging in his or her personal, private life. This is where the separation between the Hoggart scholar and Rodriguez truly begins. In the final paragraphs of his essay, Rodriguez begins to identify with his parents. He notes that he "laughed like his mother" and that "his father's eyes were very similar to his." Although Rodriguez is probably still the odd man out in his family, he feels a sense of belonging despite the strained relationship. Intriguing Connection Between Rodriguez and Hoggart's Texts The structure of Rodriguez's essay is formatted similarly to a reading analysis worksheet. Rodriguez borrows four blocks of quotes from Hoggart's The Uses of Literacy and comments on them, finding various parallels with his own life. An example of this can be seen when Hoggart writes: "The schoolboy discovers a technique of apparent learning, of acquiring facts rather than of manipulating and using facts. He learns to receive a purely literate education, using only a small part of his personality and interrogating only a limited area of ​​his being.” Like the Hoggart scholar, Rodriguez admits he was a poor student. He relied on imitation to get through high school. Rodriguez “used the diction of his teachers, trusting each of their directions.” He adopted what he was told to adopt rather than making decisions on his own. The way Rodriguez parallels his life with that of the Hoggart Fellow seems to be a very systematic way of writing, which is interesting, because it reflects Rodriguez's methodical and educational upbringing. However, the way Rodriguez uses the text to his advantage is proof that he is no longer a carbon copy of Hoggart's fellow. The text is divided into four sections. The first section interweaves the words of Hoggart and Rodriguez describing Rodriguez's assertion of the term "stock boy." Rodriguez blurs the lines between Hoggart and himself, allowing him to fully align with Hoggart's definition of a fellow. The Uses of Literacy passage in this section seems to flow a little too perfectly. It's perfectly stitched together as if Hoggart's words and Rodriguez's personality were one. The second section could easily have been removed from Rodriguez's diary, due to its extensive use of personal events from the essayist's life. The opposite of the second section is the third section, which seems very factual and based on Hoggart's The Uses of Literacy. Many sentences begin with “The fellow…”. The second and third sections show some sort of internal battle within Rodriguez, but it comes together in the fourth section. Instead of reading Hoggart's text as a chore and adding it to a list of accomplishments like Rodriguez did with Plato's Republic, he understands it and uses it to aid his voice. He controls the last section with great authority. Rodriguez makes Hoggart's words work for him and becomes both a careful reader and the creator of a literate essay,, 2005. 561-584.