| The Education Of Henry Adams |
Article Index for The |
Website Links For Education |
Information AboutThe Education Of Henry Adams |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS | |
| 1918 books | |
| education of henry adams, the | |
| autobiographies | |
| modern library 100 best non-fiction | |
|
SUBJECT ''The Education'' examined the changing social, technological, political, and intellectual worlds occurring over the author's lifetime. Adams concluded that his traditional education failed to help him come to terms with these rapid changes, and required his Self-education . The organizing thread of the book is how the "proper" schooling of his youth, along with other things in his life, was time wasted, and resulted in his search for self-education through experiences, friendships, and reading. Two aspects set ''The Education'' apart from other autobiographies. First, it is narrated in the third person, a literary device enabling a stronger and better flowing narrative. The second aspect is its sarcastic and self-critical stance. The book is filled with humor and wit. ''The Education'' has been criticized for failing to discuss Adams's marriage, and the illness and early death of his wife. Adams, splendidily reflective and self-critical in so many other respects, did not articulate what, if anything, he had learned from these sobering experiences. But he did, in fact, speak to his marriage in indirect ways. He lamented the fact that the memorial that he had constructed for his wife had become something of a tourist attraction. More generally he changed his outlook after her death. CONTEXT Henry Adams' s life story is rooted in the American political aristocracy that emerged from the American Revolution . He was the grandson of the American President John Quincy Adams and great-grandson of President and Founding Father John Adams . His father, Charles Francis Adams , had served as ambassador to the United Kingdom during the American Civil War , and had been elected to the United States Senate . His brother Brooks Adams was also a historian and social critic of note. Henry Adams had received the finest formal education available in America, enjoying many other advantages as well. It is this social context that makes ''The Education'' so important. Rather than take advantage of his patrician name and other advantages, he instead sized up what had been handed to him on a silver platter, and deemed it a failure. Being given the trappings of success did not mean much to an individualist such as Adams. He instead sought to learn things himself. ASSESSMENT ''The Education'' is an important work of American literary nonfiction, along with '' Democracy In America '' by Alexis De Tocqueville , Benjamin Franklin 's autobiography, and the journals of Lewis And Clark . It provides a penetrating glimpse into the intellectual and political life of the late 19th Century United States , without being mired in apologetics, like Ulysses S. Grant 's autobiography. Homeschool ers find value in the book. Adams made a strong case against the Prussia n-style schooling used by American and European school systems. He advocated the self-directed approach which predominated prior to 1850, relying on discussion, reflection, and experience. REFERENCES
A recent collection of interpretive essays is: Rowe, John Carlos, ed., 1996. ''New Essays on The Education of Henry Adams''. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521445736. These essays help place ''The Education'' in its historical context, particularly in terms of early 20th Century attitudes toward education, gender, and U.S. Foreign Policy . QUOTATIONS
|
|
|