Apartment For Peggy Essay, Research Paper

The Role of Education

In the movie ?Apartment for Peggy,? education is a big issue. Most middle and lower class people back in that day could not really afford to go to college. When the G.I. Bill was amended for returning Veterans, allowing them free education, it opened a door of possibilities for these people. The question for many of them, including Peggy?s husband Jason in the movie, was, incredibly enough, whether or not to walk through the door or not. Today, society would jump at the chance for free education. We know that without it, we are less likely to succeed in getting that promotion, raise, or even finding a lifelong career. However, in the time period of this movie, most people weren?t even educated enough to realize this. Also, as Jason did, a lot of families felt they needed money more than they needed education, and so sought a job which wouldn?t necessarily last, but would keep food on their table. Peggy on the other hand realized that if Jason could get his degree in education he would no doubt have a stable job for the rest of his life. Jason, so concerned about money, was blinded by the fact that upon abandoning his education and delving into the car dealership business, he could be jobless, and he and his potential family could be homeless within a year. Peggy said it best in the movie when she quoted her deceased grandfather, ?Don?t hold your money so close to you that you can?t see the big picture.?

Another educational issue discussed in the movie was also a social one. When Peggy?s friend finds lipstick on her husband?s laundry, it comes to the audience?s attention that because the returning Veterans are receiving this education, that the education actually, in some cases, becomes a barrier. This type of behavior occurs even today. Presently the illiterate or ignorant are looked down upon, even teased for their lack of education. In those former days the educated found the uneducated more or less rather boring. The wives of the scholarly Veterans found themselves drowning in their ignorance as their husbands floated on their new found knowledge. The fact that the Veterans found it harder and harder to talk and communicate with their wives pushed some to find intellectual gratification, even physical satisfaction, in other places outside their homes.

Although education broke marriages up, it also brought them closer. In the movie Peggy managed to convince Henry to put together a lecture period to teach the Veteran?s wives. The incentive was to teach them enough to be able to communicate with their husbands. Once the first lecture was over, the wives found how hungry for knowledge they actually were. Having tasted the sweet fruit of intellect, they craved books and any other information they could sink their teeth into. With all this new learned knowledge the wives and Veterans could finally relate to each other. Conversation and communication being the key to a successful relationship, the couples were brought back together. Lack of education means little depth in thought processes, giving a person very little discussion and in turn making that person seem dull. If a person doesn?t seem interesting it diminishes ones curiosity to get to know them, therefore education affects social society as a whole.