Summary Of 'Scholarship Boy' By Richard Rodriguez

His ostracized youth compels him to spread the message to all other Hispanic Americans in assimilating the necessary skills to survive in the American society while not forgetting his roots like he momentarily did. He describes himself as a “Mexican-American who, in becoming an American, forgets his native society” (Rodriguez, p.230). Feelings of emotional intimacy and belonging are human traits. Everyone wants to belong somewhere. Rodriguez ascertains the theories that ethnic Americans face more dilemmas at finding their place in the world than the average American.

Rodriguez has been labeled a ‘privileged’ minority student and his inner turmoil at being a bilingual along with the cultural clashes is evocatively phrased. During the African American Civil Rights movement, when attention was drawn to the poor education of the African Americans the Hispanics also raised their voices which led to numerous academic aids. Rodriguez, being the typical”scholarship boy” was

eligible for this aid. When he went into the work force, Rodriguez was very adamant at not segregating the education of bilinguals. He questioned the existence of the title ‘minority’ being used as an embellishment to subjects instead of prioritizing what was actually needed. He can be regarded as a spokesperson for the bilingual individuals of America in a way even though not all his experiences are universal.
His family was very close when they first arrived into America for a better life- the ‘American dream’ was a very tight knit group in the beginning. With the ostracization of Richard at school and his decision to isolate himself, his family grew apart too. This might be one of his greatest regrets. By giving up his language he had felt a sense of betrayal to his own culture, he same culture which had brought his immediate family so much closer in the past. He became an avid reader and started collecting other people’s thoughts rather than forming his own opinion which should’ve been the objective of education.
Rodriguez’ main reason for writing this book was so that the bilingual middle class could somehow relate to his experiences and get lessons from his experiences. The color of his skin and the accent of his tongue made a rather large impact in the person he is now apart from the education he emphasizes again and again. In a world where white was once seen as the default, being a dark skinned individual comes off as alien-ish in the least. He recalls his mother always telling him off for staying too long in the sun, saying that his skin would turn darker. This shows us the spectrum of the perspective of the world towards the dark skinned in a sentence. The dark skinned people were labeled poor or slave workers of the society.
Rodriguez, as mentioned earlier, was not an opinion former, yet a collector of others opinions. So he took this opinion and made it his own. However years later when he was working at a construction agency along with other dark skinned men, he found out that majority of them were educated individuals and one’ skin color didn’t determine the extent of their character. This sort of a complex was not healthy and it was only fueled by his family environment. When the world determines something to be the standard and it is seen as being the default it is seriously no wonder the pretenses people make to be something they’re not in order to fit in. Rodriguez was successful in highlighting this point. White and English was not the default. Being different was okay. Difference was what made us the human race, not being Hispanic, Italian, African or Asian. The feelings of shame Rodriguez has described in his book on showing his body in public and feeling like a stranger in your own skin help people who still see no representation of themselves in mainstream media to come to terms with the fact that people like them exist in the world.
Rodriguez refuses to be associated with the term ‘minority’ unless when it benefited him such as in his education approach. This may have led to a lot of guilt on his path. Some argue that his complex has lead to his adult life as he refused to teach the literature written by minorities in the pretense that the students probably looked down on him. This shows us how the effects of our youth are carried well into our adult life. He has turned down jobs from prestigious universities because again he thought he was only getting them because he was a minority. This points out to his ostracized youth yet again.
The rift between his education and heritage was massive.

One taught the things the other forbade. Though not an exclusive experience for ethnic Americans, this does hit too close to home for many. The American system parades on being public and open minded. Rodriguez was taught by his mother ‘madre’ to keep his personal details and business to himself. The author says that as he had already made up his mind to follow the American way of life, he chose the publicized way of life. A paradox, in theory, Rodriguez says that the louder and more vocal he got, the quieter his culture and parents became. This choice should not have been mutually conclusive and yet it was. His regret and loss can be felt profoundly through his words. One cannot have the best of both worlds. To have something of value another thing of equal value must be given up. This kind of irrevocable loss and the guilt he felt for having chosen the one that wasn’t his initial home are feelings which are not foreign to ethnic

Americans.
The insight Rodriguez offers into the life of a racialized American is complemented by numerous accounts from his own life which offer an empathic look into this sort of life by the readers. By psychoanalyzing his past and compartmentalizing it in a way that helps other racial Americans to relate to it and feel a sense of belonging is a very necessary inclusive form of literature. Through language- whether English or Espanola, the author shows that it isn’t a language or a skin color or the cards we’re given that define who we are. It is up to us to define ourselves.