Rita seems to have a very 'Socratic' way of being intelligent since she is perfectly aware of her own ignorance and that gives her the possibility of being able to ask for more 'knowledge' in order to achieve what she wants: to succeed in life. She knows that the only way of doing so is by means of fighting against ignorance (the most powerful weapon to kill and destroy humanity)
Rita is a very clever and strong woman since, as far as this scene is concerned, she shows a clear awareness of what life is about when she tells Frank that she has tried to make her husband realise that she wants a better life for them but, she explains, he does not understand a word of what she is trying to tell him. And that's why she wants to study, that's what she does not want her to be... she does not want to live in a world of 'happy ignorance' (as her husband does) because she knows that a good life is not something exclusive for wealthy people but for everyone... and she knows that being from the working class, she will have to work very hard to achieve it, and I'm sure she will do it because she has already given the first step into her new life...
'In order to be able to change something, we will first have to realise that it needs a change...'
4 comentarios:
Ale,
I think your comment on Rita`s need to fight against ignorance is really accurate.
I completely agree with you !!
What is it exactly that Rita ignores, Ale? And is there anyone who does not ignore anything at all?
In your view, what would be "a better life" for Rita? Any ideas on why her husband might not be interested? On what grounds have you decided "he lives in a world of happy ignorance"?
Lots of questions, I'm afraid... Will you give me the chance to learn from your answers to them?
Love,
Gladys
PS: loved your quote at the end! ;-)
Now that I think it again I don't think that Rita ignores something. What she is trying to say, in my opìnion, is that she used to ignore many things, but now, she has realised that there was something else apart from getting up everyday, working and going to sleep. She knows that there is a world of awareness of the changes that CRITICAL THINKING can bring to our lives. I would say that she is experiencing a sort of AWAKENING in which she realises that she is the one that could make her life different...
Regarding your second question, of course that we won't ever be able to KNOW everything...The only thing we can do, at least, is to be aware that we can't know everything and that we are alive for learning...I think that life, broadly speaking, is all about learning...
The better life that Rita is looking for is not necessarily a perfect one but at least one in which she could think critically and decide for herself what to do and what not to do...From the moment in which she feels that she is not living the same life as her husband, she will know that the better life she was looking for is already there. No matter if she cannot change 'the world' she will feel happy because of knowing that, at least, she hasn't given up and she has given her best...
Regarding her husband, I think that, although we haven't been faced with much information about him, he might not be interested simply because he may not be able to see things as Rita does. He may have had a very difficult life and, because of it, he may be a very pessimistic and hopeless man. I said that he lives in a world of happy ignorance because as he does not know that there are other possibilities, that he may live another life if he tries, he lives happily because, if that is the only possibility that he is aware of, how can he possibly think 'I want a better life for me'? What I don't know is if he is not aware of the other choices he has because of not wanting to or because of not being faced with them.
I think that, since Rita tries to show him what she wants for her and he ignores her, he seems to be not interested in changing anything or, what is even worse, not interested in TRYING at least...
Hope I have more or less answered your questions Gladys!
Thank you for keeping me thinking! ;)
Your last comment has made me think that precisely there lies the value of true education, Alejandra: in helping us understand we always live in ignorance of other, equally good answers to our questions... and that exploring them makes us wiser!
And I'd like to say I think your awareness of the (at least) two possibilities for Rita's husband of utmost importance. You write: What I don't know is if he is not aware of the other choices he has because of not wanting to or because of not being faced with them." In other words, we need to make a distinction between something that has happened to him, and a choice. Don't you feel as teachers we tend to be quite biased when faced with cases like this? No matter how much we have studied, we shouldn't go around making choices for other people, should we?
Big hug,
Gladys
PS: this whole discussion has reminded me of your dear Katherine (in Mona Lisa's Smile). Remember the scene when one of her students questioned her readiness to accept "a different choice"? ;-)
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