The Desire to Learn
Many times of the story, we see the desire of the different characters to learn and not learn. Knowledge in our world is very vast and can be obtained by everyone. However, it is only those with the willingness and the desire to learn, that will be able to grow and expand their horizons. This desire is shown in the narrator and Luo, as they both steal the suitcase full of books and knowledge. They even have a desire to share their knowledge to people like the seamstress and the tailor. The seamstress is another example of someone with the desire to learn. She is a young, beautiful girl who is so determined to learn that she is willing to leave her whole life to start over in the city.
However, on the other end, there are characters who show the lack of desire to learn, Four Eyes. Four Eyes doesn't care about the books in his suitcase. He has no desire to share it with everybody around him because all he cares about is being able to return back to the city. He is even willing to chance authentic mountain songs to do so. In this way, Four Eyes was not able to learn and grow as a person throughout the course of the book.
