In Richard Rodriguez's passage from Hunger of Memory, the superficiality of material success is depicted well. The Rodriguez children have achieved the American Dream of material success. The material success that they have accomplished has made them have very little or no concern towards their parents and siblings. In the Richard Rodriguez's description of his family at Christmas, the emptiness of material success is made clear through descriptions of siblings, mother and his views about his family and their behavior.
The imagery, actions and the behavior of the siblings illustrate the superficiality of the material success that they have achieved. The Rodriguez's children are all "very rich" and are blessed …show more content…
Not only are the daughters of the Rodriguez's family well educated, but also their "oldest son is a lawyer" portraying the material comfort that is weaved into the whole family. The Rodriguez children are all "well-off" due to the material success they have achieved with time. One of the Rodriguez daughters is wearing a "shiny mink jacket" exhibiting her wealth, as mink jackets are usually costly. The children also own "expensive foreign cars" and they have let them "idle sharply" while they are leaving illustrating that they are wasting money. The material success that the Rodriguez siblings have achieved has led them to develop bad family ties and values. During Christmas family union is one of the major aspects and is supposed to be a joyous occasion in a cozy lovely home, but here the room is described to be "uncomfortably warm" by the people in it. Their talk is also "listless" signifying that no one is really interested in the discussions that they are having and also not enjoying each other's company even though they meet very rarely. All the people in the room are also "falling asleep" and are "very tired" illustrating the cold, gloomy look that the family is having when its time to be lively and celebrate. Generally no one works on the day after