Emotional Journeys and Richard Rodriguez

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Emotional journeys also create feelings of entertainment, passion, growth, and critical thinking. In the highly praised book made up of a compilation of essays titled Darling by Richard Rodriguez the normal system of human social elements and emotional responses are assessed and analyzed. The book Darling despite its subtitle as a spiritual autobiography is more so an account of a spiritual journey and not so much a biography of one idea. In fact, it is more so a biography of multiple intertwining thoughts and ideas that range from the relationship between different landscapes, the rights of women and gay peoples, as well as the struggle of sexual orientation and religion. These ideas are conveyed during different historical points in history. From the era of Cesar Chavez to the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas and the stressful endless traffic jams of California highways. A careful reading of the book shows that Rodriguez incorporated a number of different themes to add to the overall theme of the book which can first be seen in the title essay.

First, the greatest part about the book is that it pushes controversial themes aggressively. For example, in one part of the book Rodriguez seems to suggest that Jerusalem is not as important as a historical site as many claim it is. Rather, it is its astounding construction that draws people’s attentions. This can be seen in Rodriguez quote on the second page of chapter two, “Jerusalem is as condensed as self-referential, as Rubik’s cube” (pg. 26). The title essay, Chapter 5, centers on an intimate conversation with a heterosexual divorced woman who tells Rodriguez about her life long journey to understand her emotional need of intimacy, or lack thereof. The women, who is later identifie...

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... It is in these final chapters that the audience is able to understand that they will not truly know if Rodriguez is yet able to find out how religion will fit into his future or whether any of Rodriguez will ever truly answer all the questions he has been pondering.

In all, it appears that it is the willingness to go against the norm, to think outside the box, and to accept controversy that enables Richard Rodriguez’s book Darling to be truly ingenious. Controversies reject solutions just as Rodriguez claims the desert says no to tranquility. Rodriquez’s compilation of essays sheds a great deal of light about the interworking’s of an intellectual individual that has encountered and continues to seek such encounters that seem to go against his religious views, decisions, and thoughts.

Works Cited

Rodriguez, R. (2013). Darling: A spiritual autobiography.

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