Intelligence
He it is often said that he consistently scores straight F's (which, at one point, he thought meant Fantastic). Moose's learning difficulties were later revealed to be dyslexia, which made it harder for him to understand what his teachers, such as Miss Grundy, were writing on the chalkboard. However, Moose's friends never want to see him fail and are always willing to help him study. Moose has done better at school when he needs to, and is able to understand complex subjects like algebra if people explain them to him enough—something which nearly drove Reggie Mantle crazy when he acted as Moose's math tutor.
A theme used in many stories is based on the Riverdale High rules that failing students are not allowed to participate in extracurricular activities. At such times, Moose has to pass a makeup test, and proves to have difficulty studying. Coach Kleats and Moose's teammates depend on Moose to help them win most of their games. Moose can always depend on a friend to tutor him, and he almost always passes the test makeup test. However, sometimes their efforts backfire, and they do not win the game even if he did pass.
In today's Archie world, Moose isn't as dumb as he appears. He was offered a full football scholarship to a University. When he found out that they wanted to place him into "joke classes" so he would get good grades, he turned down the offer. When asked about it, he replied "I may be dumb, but there's no reason for me to stay dumb." He also briefly dropped out of high school, but returned upon realizing he would need a college education to get the jobs he would like to try.
Despite his limited intelligence, Moose has a deeply sensitive side, which many people do not see. The first person he opens up to is Dilton Doiley. Moose has a deep admiration of Dilton because of his intelligence; Moose calls him his "little buddy" and will go to any length to help the diminutive genius. When Moose feels discouraged by other people's opinions of him, Dilton is the first to stick up for him. In one story, walking through the snow, the two discuss Moose's thoughts and feelings. At this point, Dilton finds that despite what people think of him, Moose has a poetic and philosophical view of certain things.
Read more about this topic: Moose Mason
Famous quotes containing the word intelligence:
“Napoleon has not been conquered by men. He was greater than any of us. God punished him because he relied solely on his own intelligence until that incredible instrument was so strained that it broke.”
—Jean Baptiste Bernadotte (1763–1844)
“All the intelligence and talent in the world can’t make a singer. The voice is a wild thing. It can’t be bred in captivity. It is a sport, like the silver fox. It happens.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)
“The methodological advice to interpret in a way that optimizes agreement should not be conceived as resting on a charitable assumption about human intelligence that might turn out to be false. If we cannot find a way to interpret the utterances and other behaviour of a creature as revealing a set of beliefs largely consistent and true by our standards, we have no reason to count that creature as rational, as having beliefs, or as saying anything.”
—Donald Davidson (b. 1917)