Different Ways Children Learn In Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age

Many children learn in many different ways. Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age is about a young girl growing up in a future society who is on her own to learn the ways of the world. To help her though she has ¨magical book¨ called a primer to help her learn all the necessary things in life, from how to read, eating healthy, and how to defend herself in a fight. Nell is stronger, smarter, and more mature than any other young girl because of her primer.
Nell learns an incredible number of life skills from her primer. Nell was completely illiterate before she had this book. Then, after just a few months with it ¨she found she could often read the words more quickly than the book spoke them” to her (184). This shows how much this book had an affect
During Nell´s fight with the bully Kevin she was able to defeat him just because she had greater intellectual power over him. He went to attack her but ¨Nell had watched Kevin use this [same] tactic on other kids, and she knew that it only worked because usually the kids were too scared to move” (186). Realizing this, she had confidence in herself that she could defeat him as long as she didn't cower in fear like everyone else. She just simply stepped out of his way and let his own strength defeat himself. If she hadn't believed in herself she would have just been trampled like every other one of Kevin's victims, but instead she just believed in herself and was able to win the fight. Towards the end of their fight Nell began to move around very quickly, and as she did this ¨she was watching Kevin… and saw that his eyes were tracking her hand, mesmerized” (187). Nell had complete control over Kevin, soley because she was confident in her abilities she could win. She used this to her advantage and hit him before he could even realized anything had happened. Without her confidence Nell would always be trampled over, but instead she stands out and can do anything she wants