Compare and Contrast “University” and “Warren Pryor” Free Essay Example

Why is education important to society? Would one be able to read without a successful teacher teaching one how to read? Education is a key that holds the ability to open many doors – doors which open into vast rooms of knowledge, love, experience, discovery, and dreams. Education is an essential to human living and a fulfilling life, but what happens when the path one takes is not the choice that one personally wants? In “University”, written by Leona Gom, and “Warren Pryor”, written by Alden Nowlan, the poems present both negative and positive effects of education on society.

The good intentions of the parents result in an awkward distance between them and their children.

In “Warren Pryor,” the parents “marveled how [Warren] [wears] a milk-white shirt on work days” as this not something a farmers working on the fields would wear. His privilege to wear clean shirts and jeans on Sunday makes them believe he is different socio-economically. To think for them to be close again would just be awkward.

Similarly, in “University,” the parents claim to the children that” [they] are changed, too good for [the parents] now,” showing belief in that they do not fit in with their children anymore. Since the parents believe their kids are too good them, they do not think they should anymore.

In both stories, close families of parents and children grow distant from each other because of a barrier of education and social status. It can already be seen that contrary to popular belief, education does not necessarily bring happiness.

The protagonist in “Warren Pryor is described as “hard and serious” (12-13) because he feels “like a young bear trapped in a cage” unable to do what he desires. He felt as if he owed it to his parents to become what his parents want him to become. In “University,” the parents are unsatisfied as “something they wished for (has) gone wrong.” Originally, they thought education would only make the children happier as they would not need to endure the same hardships, but did not foresee that this also creates distance which leads to unhappiness.

Secondly, the characters possess different views regarding the effects of education. In “University”, the protagonist believes that he has become more educated compared to his parents, while in “Warren Pryor”, the protagonist feels as if education has degraded him. Warren Pryor describes himself as a “young bear inside his teller’s cage”. His job as a bank teller restricts him from what he really wishes to do; he wants to assist his parents on the farm. In contrast, the protagonist of “University” feels that “the day [he] left, [he] began to believe it. [His] knowledge fits [his] hands like a manicure too expensive to soil with the fact of these farms”. The protagonist describes how farm life is now inferior to his educated mind.

However, education also affects the parents of the protagonists. When the parents of Warren witnessed him in his new job, “they blushed with pride. They marveled… He was saved from their thistle-strewn farm and its red dirt”. Warren’s parents were completely overwhelmed with joy at their son’s success in life, but were unaware of the fact that Warren was actually unsatisfied with his current lifestyle. The parents are not as concerned if Warren becomes distant from them due to the sacrifices that they have made to give Warren education. In contrast, the protagonist’s parents in “University” are aware that their child has grown distant from the family. Their child is now at the “corners of family gatherings… You are different [the parents] say, you are changed, too good for us now”. The parents fear that education has rendered their child a stranger now.

The characters have different views and effects on society, and create an awkward distance between the parents and their son. Society foreshadows the prosperity of a person’s job depending on the education received. The protagonists’ parents had high hopes for their child, and when that hope has been achieved. Only would the parents feel success in raising a son better than themselves, not knowing that their son has an opinion of otherwise. “University”, written by Leona Gom, and “Warren Pryor”, written by Alden Nowlan, both show the positive and negative effects of education in modern day situations.

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