Personal Review

I thought that the autobiography, Hunger of Memory, by Richard Rodriguez, was intriguing because of the unique way he structured the biography. Rather than writing about his life in chronological order, he breaks the novel up into different essays that focus around topics such as his religion, his skin color, or his argument against affirmative action. For me, the most interesting part was the argument against affirmative action. This intrigued me because it is unsuspected from a person of ethnicity. Even as a person with liberal tendencies, I disagree with affirmative action, and I liked Rodriguez’s argument. He argues that affirmative action really only benefits those people who are minorities and who are already equal to whites in regard to education and even social class, like him. This hurts all whites, but mostly those from a lower class. Rodriguez feels guilty that even though he has the same credentials, accomplishments, and, to an extent, background as his white classmates, he has more opportunities because of his race. He argues that the money should be spent on improving poor inner city schools rather than affirmative action, thereby attacking the root of the problem. The thing I most disliked about this autobiography was that it was definitely not a page-turner. However, I did not expect it to be, and I still enjoyed the education it gave me. It gave me a new perspective on the privilege my classmates and I have to receive a very high quality education, which is what everybody should have the chance to obtain.