Season of Migration to the North Lesson Plan

What do we know about Mahjoub's education? What influence and power does his education offer him?

The narrator says that he and Mahjoub attended school together and that Mahjoub was always smarter than he was. When they finished elementary school, Mahjoub declared himself done with formal schooling: he said he had learned reading, writing, and arithmetic, which were all he needed to get by as a farmer. He explained to the narrator they came from farming folk and all they needed to know was how to "write letters, to read the newspapers, and to know the prescribed rule for prayers." Also, especially with the changing times, it was beneficial for them to be able to make...