Days of Obligation: an Argument with My Mexican Father Essay

This bulk is written in a quick, quick witted, volatile changeable style. Rodriguez tries to expel of the tensions in his vivification and life in the States. He parallels or relates the views of young and old, catholic and protestant, communalism and individualism, cynicism and optimism and the past and succeeding(a) in his own life. When Rodriguez goes to Mexico, he feels unwelcome. To me, he seems to feel that he is overeducated and pucka to his peers in Mexico. A lot of Rodriguezs opinions have come from his begins view of the world.His fuck off viewed it as a sad place, whereas when Richard was young, he viewed it as a fiesta. However, through adulthood, Rodriguezs opinions of the world began to parallel his fathers. He plays numerous variations on the contrasts he derives from an argument he erst had with his father Life is harder then you think, boy. Rodriguez responds to his father, Youre thinking of Mexico, Papa. Youll see. Rodriguez is extremely cynical, he feels i nclined to question everyones motives about every decision they make.For example, on page 27, when talking about the Gay Freedom parade, Rodriguez states they marched, east to west, by-line the mythic American path to optimism. Meaning they are following a path that isnt boththing in Rodriguezs eyes. It is hopefulness that Rodriguez doesnt see at all. Additionally, Rodriguez states, I have never looked for utopia on a map. My compass takes its aboriginal point from tragedy (pg 29). This again proves that Rodriguez chooses to be invalidating and look at everything from a cynical, unfortunate standpoint.The above being said, I also opine Rodriguez fails to pursue a consistent argument. He has so many diametrical viewpoints and issues. While he does stick with the reoccurring themes in the novel such as AIDS, barbarism vs. civilization and religion, all of them are developed independently. He thank the church for the schooling he received, yet throughout the years, not that has he lost the strength in his faith but he foresees immediate crisis for the church. He goes from being negative and hating life in America to stating, I became Americanized, I ended up believing in choices as much as any of you do (pg 172).He feels now as if being Chicano it is holding him back even though he is toilsome to get to the level he should be at as an American. In doing further research, I have found that a lot of the allegeers of this book also feel the same way. One essay I read stated that Rodriguez is a walking dichotomy. I completely agree with this because he is gay, a devoted Catholic, Mexican even though he besides speaks Spanish, American but still feels that he is different than the rest of America, Mexican-American who despises Chicanos, a gay man who sets himself apart from gay men, and an English scholar who leaves the academy.Furthermore, Rodriguez is pull more to the truth when he discovers it through than he is committed to any political agenda. Altho ugh no matter what he says about feeling American or living in America, he is deeply involved in Mexican and catholic values and makes it evident how alien he feels when he travels through Mexico because he feels everyone is a bandit. Further stating, if the United States stole calcium from the Mexicans, the Mexicans had stolen it from Spaniard, who had originally stolen it from the Indians. Overall, the book was a difficult read because of all the unreconciled arguments and topics Rodriguez approached. While he is an educated and knowledgeable writer, he approached everything with a negative view of life. I felt he was too straight-forward, too dark, and wide-ranging which in the end made a lot of topics confusing. However, I feeling it was interesting to learn his views and I have grown from reading this dissertation.