How would you interpret ‘learn by example’?
Mrs. Brown stands at the ready, her suitcase already packed, though the trip is six weeks away. No price is too high for this joy. Her thrill for adventure is a thing I dearly wish I could learn by example. She makes me wish for the boy who once could swim miles underwater, looking for treasure.

How would you interpret ‘learn by example’ in the sentence: Her thrill for adventure is a thing I dearly wish I could learn by example?
Thanks! And it’s from The Lacuna.

Question

How would you interpret ‘learn by example’?
Mrs. Brown stands at the ready, her suitcase already packed, though the trip is six weeks away. No price is too high for this joy. Her thrill for adventure is a thing I dearly wish I could learn by example. She makes me wish for the boy who once could swim miles underwater, looking for treasure.

How would you interpret ‘learn by example’ in the sentence: Her thrill for adventure is a thing I dearly wish I could learn by example?
Thanks! And it’s from The Lacuna.

Answer

To learn by example means to learn by watching someone else do something. So the writer wishes that watching Mrs. Brown could make him feel more adventurous, something which evidently he felt as a boy but no longer does.