It seems that education does more for separating children from their families then teaching them the life lessons they will need later in life. In Richard Rodriguez's excerpt "Achievement of Desire," he states that "A primary reason for my success in the classroom was that I couldn't forget that schooling was changing me and separating me from the life I enjoyed before becoming a student" (654). Rodriguez strived to become the "scholarship boy" who rises above his surroundings and becomes educated. This relates to W.E.B. Dubois's selection "Of the Coming of John" where the main character, John, also experiences separation from his life due to his education. Both characters are divided from their families due to their education and drive to learn more, however, the circumstances and results differentiate for each individual. .
I can say that due to my own experiences, especially now in college, I have become separated from the life I knew before. However, I believe the reasons for this separation vary for each person. Rodriguez seems to be trying to escape from his family and shameful Mexican heritage by burying himself in books, while John simply grows further away from his home. My own experiences relate more to Dubois's character than to Rodriguez. Both characters experience division from their lives before an education but I believe Rodriguez's is intentional while Dubois" character simply grows up and grows away.
In Rodriguez's story the reader first sees the evidence of separation very early on in his elementary years. As he brings his homework home, and finds difficulty in his home environment, he isolates himself to find a more suitable work environment. Rodriguez can not even ask for his parents" since most of the material is over their heads. "In a voice angry or worried or just curious, she"d (Rodriguez's mother) ask: "What do you see in your books?" It became the family's joke" (Rodriguez 653).
