A reading question

Would you consider illiteracy a more shameful act than killing people day in and day out as part of your job?
Hannah Schmidtz certainly seems to think so.

I have been reading books since I was 9 or 10; I remember Enid Blyton as a personal favourite and an initiation to the wonderful world of books during a trip to Kerala (I think Ernakulam, I might be wrong). There was a great charm in the written word. And there was a world of imagination associated with it. Pages of black and white mysteriously converted to colour epic landscapes through the vision of the brain. It was a process that kept the interest going and the thrill alive. I imagined the five find-outers to live in a nice idyllic village with trees and small roads and quaint little coffee shops where they would have their 'tea and scones'. I imagined Mr.Goon to be a funny, wobbly sort of stern police constable who would be angry all the time. I imagined thieves who would be hiding after committing a crime just waiting to be found out by 'Fatty' and his friends.

I have progressed to more varied(and mature) books, I would think. But I remembered the initial thrill after watching 'The Reader'. A person with no money probably truly appreciates its worth. And it seems like the same is applicable to reading. I was surprised at the character's reaction and conscience. But what do I know.

So is Illiteracy a worse act than murder? I would hazard a guess that a person who truly understands himself with an open mind might know the answer to it. Not me. Yet.