Bodega Dreams

CRITICAL LENS ESSAY

Education is knowledge or skill obtained or developed by a learning process. It is also field of study that is concerned with the pedagogy of teaching and learning. “Only the educated are free” quoted by Epictetus (55-135 CE). This quote simply states lack of education can prevent you from improving in the future. Those who are educated are the ones who have things the way they want it to be. The statement is very accurate because of the fact education is knowledge and knowledge is needed in order to carry on a stable life. Success comes along with education. The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley and the novel Bodega Dreams by Ernesto Quinonez both give examples of how education plays a major role in the two different characters’ lives.

Autobiography of Malcolm X represents the essence of how one failing person can overcome great obstacles through education. While Malcolm X is in prison he realizes what he is missing. He realizes that if he can’t read or write formally he will always be envying others and feel bad for not getting any education during his early life. “Bimbi had always taken charge of any conversation he was in, and I had tried to emulate him. But every book I picked up had few sentences which didn’t contain anywhere from one to nearly all of the words that might as well have been in Chinese.”(174-175) Malcolm X starts to feel what lack of education is doing to him. He discovers he can’t even write without using slang and he can’t even read properly. He compares himself to Bimbi and notice the difference between those who are educated and those who are not.

His 10 years of prison life didn’t go to waste he used it wisely by educating himself. Malcolm read varieties of literature made available in prison. Religion, race and world history were his favorite subjects. “Many, who today hear me somewhere in person or on the vision, or those who read something I’ve said, will think I went to school far beyond eight grade. This impression is due to entirely to prison studies.” (174) Malcolm makes this statement due to all the effort he made during his prison life. He educated himself and actually felt really proud of himself. Flipping through books and reading whenever he get a chance really helped him out. He read cautiously in the dark when the prison lights went off he would read continuously in the lights-outs glow. His opinion after the study changed a lot from the beginning of the book. He starts to be read so much he has to use glasses. Malcolm X educating himself makes him gain knowledge.

Bodega Dreams the novel proves the impact education can have not only on one person but society s whole. This book is about a guy name Chino who meets a well known drug dealer name Bodega. Bodega has big dreams of making Spanish Harlem a well financed society so he sets up drug money to send young ones to school for education and helping the ones in need in any way possible. Nazario a good friend of Bodega and also known as a lawyer got his education and actually got a good name in society. Nazario states