In his essay “The Achievement of Desire,” Richard Rodriguez writes about his experiences as a student. While writing about his education Rodriguez makes frequent mention of a conceptual personality archetype. Originally conceived by the author Richard Hoggart, Rodriguez identifies with “the scholarship boy” and thoroughly relates his experiences to the archetype. As defined by Hoggart in “The Uses of Literacy,” the “scholarship boy” is a student who, despite an economically disadvantaged family, manages to develop …showed first 75 words of 663 total…

…showed last 75 words of 663 total…early in life as a student Rodriguez is the definitive “scholarship boy,” he is not as doomed as Hoggart’s writings would suppose. In fact his career flourishes as does his relationship with his family. Rodriguez managed to hold onto his origins, despite the deep personal conflict he experienced in school. Unlike Hoggart’s eternal “scholarship boy,” Rodriguez escaped the demise of that dreaded archetype’s fate, and managed to become, and remain the scholar.