The answer is easy: She wants to know.
And now the question would be... Know what for?
When we are young we don't want to study, and many times we don't know why we "have" to study. We are sent to school by our parents (in the best case). But as we are so young (sometimes) we cannot see the utility of what we are learning (long term usage).
But in the case of Rita, she is already a grown up and she wants to study at the university. Study at the university... what for?
What for are we studying at universities (or terteary levels)?
We may have different answers, different goals, different interests, but in the end we're all learning. Some of us may want their degree, some others polish their English, some of us may study just for fun. Study for fun?
I think this is the beginning of all. When we start discovering that learning can be fun, that we can use our knowledge, and that we are open to new things that we didn't appreciate before (just because of ignorance, or not understanding).
Knowledge let us understand new things, or discover new things that we weren't able to see before. Knowledge opens our mind to new worlds, and that in my opinion, is what Rita wants.
"Because I wanna know Everything" = ) * (= "I'll have to learn about it all..."
"... y' sit (...) watchin' the ballet or the opera on the telly an' - an' y' call it rubbish cos that's what it looks like? Cos y' don't understand. So y' switch it off an' saym that's fuckin' rubbish."
"(...) But I don't want to. I wanna see."
3 comments:
I agree with you: I also think Rita wants to explore a whole new world where she feels no longer a mediocre working class ignorant lady. I believe she is not satisfied with who she is and that´s why she has choosen to study.
Miriam
I love your idea of education as an "eye-opener". Pam! Hope you've experienced it that way!
Mind you: not all adults understand why they should learn something, age doesn't make such a difference more often than you might expect! after all, you can always be sent "back to school" by your boss, or society (so that you can get a job, or not lose face in front of your children, for instance), while you may still be wondering "what for"!
Love,
Gladys
Hi Mir and Gladys,
I think, she needs a change but not an ephemeral one. She wants to grow up from the inside.
I love discovering things or realising that I understand or can appreciate things using previous knowledge. For example when we have to read "Animal Farm" for Literature somebody told me that it was boring until we analized it (so we applied our knowledge, or we study in order to see the fable as another kind of story).
Hugs,
Pame
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