What is the importance of education in the novel, The Queen of Palmyra?

The fact that Florence has little to no formal education highlights her naivety during the 1960s. Most of her education comes from informal sources, like the stories told to her by her parents, grandparents, and caregivers. Under Eva's tutelage, Florence learns about diagramming sentences and world geography, but her mind is also opened to truths about humanity, politics, and society. In the postscript to the novel, author Minrose Gwin states that, "Teachers can change lives and open spaces in the world were there were none, in large and small ways" (P.S. Page 6). By teaching Florence how to diagram sentences, Eva is, in a way, teaching her how to navigate through a complex, confusing world. On paper, Florence learns how to judge the way each word affects the words around it, completely altering the sentence, or story, being told on the page. As an adult, Florence not only passes on the formal lessons to her students, she realizes the importance of Eva's teachings. Finally the words line up in Florence's mind and she is able to see the truth: that Daddy killed Eva. Contrasting Eva's intelligent, witty teaching, Mimi's teaching style - which fails to capture Florence's imagination or truly teach her anything - is depicted as outdated and dusty, similar to her views on segregation and racism (which don't affect Florence nearly as much as Eva's views).