One of the reasons we loves us some Indiana Jones here at Shmoop is because he's a smart guy. More importantly, he values learning and wisdom as essential survival tools out there with the snakes and scorpions and poisoned-tipped blowguns aimed right at your head. It's a real one-two punch: He becomes a professor of archaeology for the formal book learning and a mercenary tomb raider for what we like to call "life experience." Either way, we're looking at a hero who thinks his way out of trouble as often as he shoots or punches his way out.
For a noisy action movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark sure likes telling us that learning is cool.
Questions about Wisdom and Knowledge
- How many times is Indy saved by specifics things he knows? Conversely, how many times does he get hammered by the fact that he doesn't hold the particular bit of knowledge he needs?
- At what points does academic knowledge trump simple street-smarts, and at what points does life experience prove to be better than book-learning?
- Wisdom isn't always the same as knowledge. What things does Indy learn about himself and life in general that can't be quantified by books?
- How is Belloq's knowledge and wisdom different from Indy's? How is it the same?
Chew on This
Knowledge is shown as an absolute good in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Knowledge is both good and evil, depending on who uses it.