Heroes who don't get a formal education

April 27, 2009 7:18 AM

I'm looking for story lines where a kid grows up and decides not to go to college but instead to stay in his hometown and take over his father's business or work in the mine or something like that. Help me find some books and movies, please!

Most importantly, the kid making the decision has to be the protagonist, not a secondary character whose life is supposed to be sad compared to the successful kid who goes to college.

Not, for example, It's a Wonderful Life, which takes place 30-somethingish years after he decides to take over the bank.

posted by thewestinggame to Education (19 answers total)

Can it be going to college and then coming back to run his father's business? If so: 1947 "come back home young folk" musical Allegro might be what you're looking for. Our young doctor hero is called back to help his father run the local hospital/surgery. Recently recorded in this rather lush edition. This period (post war, late 40s) is full of these kinds of pieces, though you can find them in 1939 (there's no place like home).
posted by Augenblick at 8:16 AM on April 27, 2009

It's a Wonderful Life
posted by furtive at 8:26 AM on April 27, 2009

Doh!
posted by furtive at 8:26 AM on April 27, 2009

But in defense of It's a Wonderful Life, George Baily takes over his father's business right after high school, putting off College and all his dreams.
posted by furtive at 8:28 AM on April 27, 2009

I realise now my answer was kind of the anti question but there you have it.
posted by Augenblick at 8:50 AM on April 27, 2009

Maybe Gilead, by Marilynn Robinson? The main character is a preacher in a small Iowa town, the same role as his father and grandfather.
posted by susanvance at 9:36 AM on April 27, 2009

Sometimes A Great Notion by Kesey. Well, the main character goes to college, but returns home to help save the family business.
posted by peewinkle at 9:40 AM on April 27, 2009

Breaking Away has the kid [presumably] decide to go to college at the end despite earlier pressure from his father and friends to hate the college kids. Does that count?
posted by Acari at 9:48 AM on April 27, 2009

Richard Russo's Bridge of Sighs. And others by the same.
posted by firstdrop at 9:56 AM on April 27, 2009

On Friday Night Lights, Matt Seracen (not THE main character - a main character in an ensemble casts) chooses to remain in a small Texas town to take care of his ailing grandmother rather than go to college in Chicago.
posted by orville sash at 10:20 AM on April 27, 2009

In the animated film Howl's Moving Castle, the protagonist Sophie works at the family hat shop that meant so much to her late father, despite Sophie's sister's plea that Sophie do what Sophie wants to do.
posted by troywestfield at 11:01 AM on April 27, 2009

One part of October Sky involves the protagonist giving up dreams of remaining in high school and going to college to go work in the coal mines (his father's profession). Though, a bit later he finds a way to get himself out and a scholarship to college.
posted by Atreides at 11:16 AM on April 27, 2009

Life After Genius is sort of like this--the protagonist leaves college and starts working at the family funeral parlor/furniture store.
posted by miratime at 11:56 AM on April 27, 2009 [1 favorite]

Are you looking for fiction pieces only? The (non-fiction) story that comes to my mind is that of Ed Mirvish, who created a retail and theatre empire that started with his family's small grocery store. His autobiography is fascinating and entertaining. It's called:

How to Build an Empire on an Orange Crate, or 121 Lessons I Never Learned at School, the autobiography of Edwin Mirvish, published by Key Porter Books, Toronto, 1993.
posted by yawper at 12:18 PM on April 27, 2009

That sounds a lot like the long-term story of the classic comic strip "Gasoline Alley".
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 1:05 PM on April 27, 2009

Kes.
posted by hot soup girl at 2:45 PM on April 27, 2009

Splendor in the Grass, though it's not exactly the primary focus of the story.
posted by hobbes at 3:27 PM on April 27, 2009

Hey, how about The Godfather? No college, I guess...
posted by Redhush at 3:40 PM on April 27, 2009

Party of five.
posted by kjs4 at 5:52 PM on April 27, 2009