Education

Education is a highly prized rarity in the novel, yet is integral to Tiffany's development as a character. Tiffany and her family lead a simple and provincial lifestyle, focused on the practical matters of everyday living more than anything of a more intellectual or mysterious nature.

The exception to this is when traveling teachers visit the local village in order to trade information for local goods, and Tiffany's inquisitive nature is initially emphasized by the amount of produce she has given, over time, to the teachers to give her the information she has acquired over time. The teachers "sold the key to the universe to people who didn't even know it was locked" (19), meaning that the lack of widespread education means that most people have no reason to think there is anything to learn in the first place.

Tiffany is different, however, in that the more...