The Achievement of Desire, Chapter 1 Summary

While in graduate school, Richard finds an accurate description of himself in Richard Hoggart's "scholarship boy" definition discussed in his book The Uses of Literacy. According to Hoggart. Family encourages intimacy and public alienation, while school encourages him to trust lonely reason. The scholarship boy has to be alone and mentally cut himself off from family, in order to focus on schoolwork. He learns to live in two different worlds. In short, Hoggart says the scholarship boy is a good student but troubled son, constantly moving between academic success and his longing to be close to his family. Richard identifies himself in Hoggart's descriptions. He recognizes that the anger he once felt towards his parents for encouraging him to learn English and get an education has turned to guilt for embracing the encouragement.

For a...