Notes

Douglass would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing.He said, "It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out. In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity". So Douglass felt he was better off before he knew about slavery but later he used his education to fight it. This changed Douglass life because he now had the knowledge to do something about slavery.

In the giver, Jonas felt his education did not prepare him for what he was being asked to do in his assigned position. He was taught to have no emotion and did not experience anything that would prepare him for being the giver. He became upset about how people were being treated and wanted to make changes as to how things were being done. He knows he can't go back to a world of no feeling like he was taught to do as a boy.
Douglass and Jonas would both see advantages and disadvantages to their education. As they learned about their situations, they both saw how there needed to be change in what they had known before. Both wanted to make their situations better and knew they would have to fight those who were in control to make the changes they wanted to see. They also both saw how painful it was to know how people were suffering and to worry about how they could make the changes needed to help others. The differences in their education was that Douglass had to break the law to learn something very simple like reading and Jonas was given the opportunity to learn about everything in his world when others were not allowed to know.