Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

Education is a source of individual and collective empowerment for the characters in the novel. At the beginning of the story, the villagers rely predominantly on quarrying linder to survive the harsh winters. Since Mount Eskel is a poor territory, most of its residents are illiterate, which limits their understanding of the broader world. However, when Miri and the other girls begin learning how to read at the academy, they start to learn history and other subjects that reshape their perspectives and open their minds to opportunities. 

Miri, in particular, experiences a significant intellectual awakening through her study of commerce. As she practices reading, she realizes that linder is a highly valuable resource and that traders have been taking advantage of the villagers’ lack of knowledge. She decides that she must tell her family and community about this. She thinks, “[I]f the traders dealt fairly, her village could benefit from the heaps of wonders the rest of the kingdom seemed to enjoy” (131). When Miri shares this knowledge with the villagers, they feel empowered to demand fairer prices from the traders and refuse to let traders like Enrik deprive them of their rightful earnings. 

As the villagers are paid more for their linder production, Mount Eskel’s economy grows, and more traders come to them with better goods. As people gain more personal and collective power, they feel empowered to demand more and gain the opportunity to elevate themselves socio-economically. This economic shift highlights the importance of education: As individuals and communities gain knowledge, they also acquire the power to challenge inequality and advocate for themselves. Enrik complains to the other traders that “there was a risk all that learning at the academy might smarten them up, and now it’s come to this” (212). His remark shows that the oppressive system that he and the other traders profited from limited access to education to maintain control over the working class.

Beyond economic empowerment, education also enables the girls at the academy to assert themselves against those in power. For instance, they use their lessons in diplomacy to demand that Olana treat them better. Their ability to apply what they have learned impresses even Olana, who tells them that their appeal “has been a very good demonstration of Diplomacy” (200).

Education also expands the girls’—and the villagers’—personal ambitions. As Miri teaches her sister, Marda, to read, she reflects on how her life has changed since she learned how to read and discovered the intricacies of commerce. She thinks, “Before the academy she had sat on her hill watching goats, and her imagination could dream of nothing grander than working in the quarry. But now she was aware of the kingdom beyond her mountain, hundreds of years of history, and a thousand things she could be” (232-33). An awareness of the world has opened her mind to higher ambitions. Similarly, Mount Eskel’s residents realize that there are opportunities for them to do other work besides quarrying, such as Peder’s dream of becoming a carver and Miri’s ambition of starting a village academy where anyone can learn how to read. Thus, the novel shows that education is the path to self-fulfillment.