Education provides the masses with the knowledge needed to succeed in life. Most people define education as teaching provided in public institutions. However, the majority of the population acquires most of their knowledge not at school, but in their environment. A person's environment teaches lessons first-hand, allowing them to develop their own way of responding and learning. This creates a personalized education that gives the individual the opportunity to form their own opinion without any bias from an authority figure. Authoritative educators sometimes incorporate their personal opinions into their teaching. Literary education often arises from life experiences. In The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini illustrates how society's teachings are harshly exposed to the characters as they each encounter the real world. On the other hand, in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, the characters watch society's hypocrisy and double standards unfold before their eyes. Although formal education provided by authority figures can have an impact on characters, both novels demonstrate how real-life experiences provide richer lessons while formal education restricts the scope of learning of a character. However, while Khaled Hosseini uses direct, destructive experiences to educate the character, Harper Lee allows the characters to be observers of their discoveries, resulting in unwavering judgment as the character learns from the situation. Both authors develop the idea that real-life experiences are more meaningful. educational sources than what teachers teach in schools, formal education being a restriction on learning. For Scout, communication problems that arise from the first day of school prevent a proper education. When Scout... middle of paper ...... there is the idea that experiences are far more educational than formal education provided by authority figures. The communication problems in Scout's class, the narrow-mindedness of the teachers in both novels, and the higher quality education the characters receive at home prove this. Hosseini uses direct, destructive experiences to teach character while Lee uses observations as sources of learning. While Hosseini's writings can be considered more emotionally powerful, Lee's seems to provoke more authentic and meaningful responses from the reader. The characters and the reader become educated and begin to question the norms of society. This results in discovering a person's own point of view and establishing their outlook on society. Through a combination of observation and direct experiences, a person often gains more knowledge than they would obtain in a school..