Literacy and Paradise Lost
On the last two road trips my family has taken, we have attempted (when not distracted by children’s needs, thank goodness for steering-wheel audio controls to pause and play) to listen to audiobooks of classic literature. The first one was The Hound of the Baskervilles, the most famous Sherlock Holmes novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The second, for the trip we took this weekend, was Paradise Lost by John Milton (if you follow this link, disregard the modern “reinterpretations” of the work), written in the 1600’s. It is an epic poem dramatizing Satan’s war against God in heaven, his casting into hell and finally the temptation of Adam and Eve- 9 CD’s worth.
The thing I most felt while listening to the first CD was an awareness of my own lack of literacy compared to the norm during the height of our civilization and before our own degraded age. The density and content of the poem coming out of the speakers was almost more than my brain could process- ideas upon ideas layered so thick and quick it took my whole brain to process just some of them before yet another line was read.
From my experiences reading ANY document over 100 years old, whether Holmes or Milton or the Federalist Papers- all documents meant for wide public consumption- it is clear that the average illiterate person then (who lacked the technical skill to read and write) was probably more literate in their thoughts than the average “literate” person today who has been taught enough phonics to digest People Magazine.
Lack of literacy really means an inability to express ideas precisely, both externally AND internally. The lack of an ability to think precisely weakens the reasonable, rational parts of our nature and makes us more susceptible to those parts more apt to make foolish decisions.
Yet many Christian leaders see no value in literacy, and mock those who see it as a necessary prerequisite to truly understanding God’s Word. So we continue to dumb down church, dumb down the Bible into sixth-grade level paraphrases that cannot possibly contain all of the original meaning, and dumb down our culture and people.
Yet a great hope lies ahead- as more fathers and families take charge of their family’s education (through whatever means, but primarily through homeschooling), a great literary renewal should happen among our people. Did you hear the one about the homeschooled kids who took down the Ivy League in moot court competition?
October 20th, 2006 at 10:54 pm
Tom,
I agree. I’m an English minor — and yet I often feel that my literary abilities are sorely lacking. I used to read old American lit, and it truly awoke things in me and got me excited to explore amazingly new thoughts and ideas. As the years have gone by, I find that I understand and grasp less of the literary. Why? Because I don’t read true, good literature anymore.
I also think that your line of reasoning reflects on the question that Georgia said is coming for her blog: whether or not we should be responsible for encouraging and/or paying for our daughters to go to college.
I believe that, as parents, our children’s education is our responsibility. Yes, we will both encourage them to attend college — and we will pay for it. Why? Because there is so much to learn about life as a whole — and as you begin to see all the pieces, all the subjects coming together, you enter into an entirely different realm of awareness and knowledge.
That said, I want my daughters to go wherever God leads them — but I also believe that at that young age, God will also guide us as her parents in leading them in His direction. So if, at that time, we felt God was leading the girls on a path other than college , of course we would follow His lead. We want them to be what He wants them to be — nothing more, nothing less.
I believe in higher education, and I think it’s a good thing for every person. Not because it’s prestigious or anything like that, but because the knowledge and experience you gain from higher education opens up a whole new world of discovery.
I hope you are right that a great literary renewal will come about in our time or our children’s time.
Jason has an entire collection of leather-bound classics that look pretty but are just sitting there. Your post has inspired me to do something besides look at them.
October 21st, 2006 at 1:01 pm
Education should be so much more than mere preparation for a career. I think many homeschooling parents who are hostile to the idea of college for their daughters are stuck in the 20th century paradigm of college equals career, when the more traditional view of education is compatible with a woman’s role in the home.
The question of sending daughters to college is an easy one for me. Their purpose on Earth is to be a wives and mothers. Part of being a wife is being a companion for your husband. Since I hope they will marry intelligent husbands, they will need a solid education to enable them to be a helpmate to such a person.
Also, as mothers they will be the primary caregiver in the education of their children; this too requires education beyond that which a parent can provide, preferably in an academically rigorous Christian environment. The major problem right now is that we must choose between a Christian environment or academic rigor. Most truly Christian schools are fairly low on academics, while academically capable schools are outright hostile to the Faith.
Patrick Henry College seems to be bucking this trend (they have double digit National Merit Scholars in a class of a few hundred), and hopefully there will be more in the future.
My only caveat about PHC is that it currently focuses on training its young men as lawyers and bureaucrats for the federal government. While this is a good thing for the nation as a whole, selecting a college as a father of daughters is basically selecting the likely potential mating pool of their husbands. I would rather my daughters marry someone who is not destined for a career in the belly of the beast in Washington, DC (for a son, PHC would be wonderful, since any son of mine would likely return home to work in our business, and if he brought home a nice smart Christian girl, so much the better). So it’s still A&M or Baylor for my girls…
October 21st, 2006 at 5:56 pm
Yea Tom! You can convey what I am thinking much better than I can! I am also with you on A&M and Baylor!
October 23rd, 2006 at 12:37 pm
Tom,
I haven’t even posted on my own blog yet, but this post resonated with me, and I wanted to add something from my recent experiences.
I St. Petersburg, we had the wonderful blessing of being able to tour the Hermitage Museum (former Winter Palace of Russian Tcars). It now houses over 3 million of the world’s most famous and respected masterpieces: sculptures, paintings, architecture, mosaics, and the list goes on. It was absolutely wonderful.
I think an experience like this also shows how many Americans are not only lacking in literacy of literature, but also of WORLD history, art, and so many other things that add richness and depth to the lives of people across the world - even in countries where they have so little. The average Russian citizen lives on 150 rubles (less than $15 USD) a month, but in the country as a whole the literacy rate is above 98%. Their appreciate of art in it’s many forms far exceeds our own.
Beyond educational or “practical” considerations, art and literature resonate with sometime inside of us that was put there by our Creator. He is the Master Creator, and He made us to appreciate His wonderful works. Any work of a master is, by extension, the work of the Master as well (since He created all of us). Our spirits resonate with beauty.
So, even if it doesn’t make me a better wife and mother (which I believe it does), if nothing else, these experiences make me a fuller, richer person. Blagodar’a Bogu (Thanks to God).
October 23rd, 2006 at 3:57 pm
Because of the aftertaste of the Cold War, many of us have forgotten that Russia is a brother nation of the West, with a proud history before Communism hollowed out their nation. Glad you’re back, Lindsay.