The Education of Henry Adams · Chapter
Failure (1871) explained
Henry Adams reflects on his time as an assistant professor of history at Harvard College, finding the academic and social life of Cambridge a 'social desert' and his own teaching a failure.
What happens
Henry Adams reflects on his time as an assistant professor of history at Harvard College, finding the academic and social life of Cambridge a 'social desert' and his own teaching a failure. He contrasts the thin education of a schoolteacher with that of an editor, concluding that his formal education has ended and his life has begun. Despite his self-criticism, Harvard College offers him recognition, and he finds his students excellent company, though he doubts his own utility as a teacher.
Themes in this chapter
Education and Self-Formation
Adams critiques his own education as a teacher and editor, concluding it was thin and that he learned more from failure than success.
Social Class and Identity
The social desert of Cambridge and the constraints of being labeled a 'professor' highlight class and identity tensions.
The Failure of Leadership
Adams sees failure in both academic and editorial leadership, preferring Congressmen to professors.
Characters to notice
- Henry Adams
Narrator and protagonist; reflects on his failure as a professor and editor, and his education.
- James Russell Lowell
Mentioned as one of the brilliant men in Cambridge who tried to make society lively but were constrained by their roles as professors.
- Charles Eliot
President of Harvard College who hints at recognizing Adams's services and initiates reforms.
- John Fiske
Noted for his personal regard for Adams, writing that Henry left a great reputation at Harvard.
- Francis Turner Palgrave
Helped Adams keep the North American Review literary.
- Charles Francis Adams
Brother whose railway articles sustained the North American Review.
Key passages
“The same failure marked the society of a college. Several score of the best-educated, most agreeable, and personally the most sociable people in America united in Cambridge to make a social desert that would have starved a polar bear.”
The social life at Harvard was so barren that even the most brilliant and sociable individuals could not create a stimulating environment.
Adams emphasizes the failure of academic society to foster genuine social connection.
“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”
A teacher's impact is immeasurable and lasts forever.
Adams reflects on the profound responsibility of teaching, despite his own doubts.
“The degree of Harvard College is worth money to me in Chicago.”
A Harvard degree has practical financial value in the Midwest.
A student's pragmatic view of education contrasts with Adams's more idealistic struggles.