Among the many themes addressed by Joseph Andrews, one of the most complex questions is the value of a formal education. Throughout the novel, Parson Adams is described as a man who was educated in the classics and a formal education is important to him. Adams carries around a great Greek text by Aeschylus, writes eloquent sermons, and enjoys discussing famous philosophers every chance he gets. The narrator describes him as “an excellent scholar.” He was a perfect master of the Greek and Latin languages; to which he added a large part of knowledge in oriental languages, and knew how to read and translate French, Italian and Spanish. He applied himself for many years to the most demanding studies and had accumulated a fund of learning rarely encountered in a university” (65). Although he is a well-educated, virtuous and charitable man, he is innocent when it comes to man's schemes and is comically a victim of them several times in the novel. Much like Squire Allworthy, another of Fielding's characters in Tom Jones, Adams is so caring and kind that he does not expect anyone to treat him with anything other than honesty and good humor. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Despite his formal education, Parson Adams sometimes lacks the discernment skills necessary to understand man's true motivations. Parson Adams relies on book learning because he is presumably incapable of learning from his past experiences, continually lacking the skills to divine the true nature of evil people. His naivety? puts him in comical situations while separating him from the rest of the novel's characters as an idealist in a dark world. Near the end of the novel, when he claims that he may never be able to pay his debt to the inn, the host forgives his bill because of Parson Adams' honesty. What begins as a friendly conversation eventually ends on less cordial terms when Adams and the host begin to argue about the nature of knowledge and speculate about the value of various forms of education. The host, who has spent time at sea and traveled the world, believes that experiencing the world imparts knowledge, which of course goes against everything Adams stands for. The host explains: “He who goes abroad, as I did, will always have sufficient opportunities to know the world without worrying about Socrates or his ilk” (198). The host has learned from experience, and while he may not be able to quote Socrates like the pastor can, he nevertheless remains knowledgeable about world affairs. On the other hand, the priest, who, as we have seen, does not learn well from experience, must rely on his formal education as the root of his own knowledge. This passage allows Fielding to explore the theme of formal education versus education gained through life experience. Parson Adams represents formal education. Fielding alludes to the breadth of his knowledge through allusions to classical texts, which is another intentional literary device used by Fielding. In the scene above, Adams states, “I will inform you; the voyage I speak of is in books, the only way of traveling by which any knowledge should be acquired...if a man were to sail round the world and anchor in all its ports, without learning , he would return home ignorant. when he went out” (198). With this, Adams rejects knowledge gained through experience, which in turn is dismissive of his gracious host. For Adams, his own life.