in the life of a young man like Jude is emphasized in the opening of the novel: "The schoolmaster was leaving the village, and everybody seemed sorry" (Hardy 3). The fact that the schoolmaster is leaving means that opportunity for education is also leaving. Jude in particular shows how sorry he is that the schoolmaster is leaving:
Tears rose into the boy's eyes, for he was not among the regular day scholars, who came unromantically close to the schoolmaster's life, but one who had attended the night school only during the present teacher's term of office (Hardy 4).
The boy has sought out learning eagerly and has had the opportunity to do so precisely because this teacher has been in town. The schoolmaster expresses the idea that will infuse the boy and give him a purpose in life and a way of changing his lot:
You know what a university is, and a university degree? It is the necessary hallmark of a man who wants to do anything in teaching. My scheme, or dream, is to be a university graduate, and then to be ordained. B
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