Little Tree Education
How do you define a good education? In “The Education of Little Tree” by Forrest Carter, it may be said that the title character, Little Tree, is not getting a good education because he does not attend school. Neither of his grandparents, with whom he lives, have a formal education; the only academic lessons he receives encompass learning 5 dictionary words per week and occasionally practicing basic arithmetic. However, it can be argued that Little Tree is in fact receiving the best education possible. The guidance of his grandparents as well as his experiences while living in the unforgiving environment of the mountains allow him to learn valuable life lessons from both social and environmental viewpoints. In this essay, I will list what
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What he means by this is that the only way to learn a lesson is to experience the consequences of your actions without outside interference. In the book, Little Tree learns this lesson when a man claiming to be doing him a favor offers Little Tree the chance to buy a calf for only fifty cents. Unbeknownst to Little Tree, the calf is very ill and will die in a matter of hours. While Granpa watches from a distance, Little Tree, eager to take advantage of the deal, buys the calf with the money he had been saving for the whole month. Later, as Granpa and Little Tree are walking home to their cabin, the calf lies down and dies. Little Tree is distraught, but Granpa explains to Little Tree that he would not have learned from the encounter if Granpa had intervened. If he had told Little Tree to not buy the calf, Little Tree would have blamed him for the lost opportunity, and if he had told Little Tree to take the deal and buy the calf, Little Tree would have blamed him for the death of the calf. I believe this lesson is important because, as Granpa explained to Little Tree, we try to blame the outcome of a choice, no matter what it is, on anybody involved. If nobody is involved but you, you will have nobody to blame but yourself. You will have to confront your own mistakes instead of holding them against someone else. This lesson can also be interpreted as the importance of making decisions for yourself, however, I chose to analyze it as the importance of learning from our own
What he means by this is that the only way to learn a lesson is to experience the consequences of your actions without outside interference. In the book, Little Tree learns this lesson when a man claiming to be doing him a favor offers Little Tree the chance to buy a calf for only fifty cents. Unbeknownst to Little Tree, the calf is very ill and will die in a matter of hours. While Granpa watches from a distance, Little Tree, eager to take advantage of the deal, buys the calf with the money he had been saving for the whole month. Later, as Granpa and Little Tree are walking home to their cabin, the calf lies down and dies. Little Tree is distraught, but Granpa explains to Little Tree that he would not have learned from the encounter if Granpa had intervened. If he had told Little Tree to not buy the calf, Little Tree would have blamed him for the lost opportunity, and if he had told Little Tree to take the deal and buy the calf, Little Tree would have blamed him for the death of the calf. I believe this lesson is important because, as Granpa explained to Little Tree, we try to blame the outcome of a choice, no matter what it is, on anybody involved. If nobody is involved but you, you will have nobody to blame but yourself. You will have to confront your own mistakes instead of holding them against someone else. This lesson can also be interpreted as the importance of making decisions for yourself, however, I chose to analyze it as the importance of learning from our own