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Allyssa GarzaWriting 100Julie Babcock8 October, 2016Uncertainty Where Knowledge Matters in “The School”Initially it is hard to pin down what Donald Barthelme’s “The School” is about underneath the surface. Death is everywhere in this story. Anything that comes anywhere near these kids- the trees, the salamanders, and even the parents- end up succumbing to the darkness within a short year. One could say that the theme of the short story is death. If you look at the story through an educational lens, what does death have to do with anything? I believe that Barthelme was trying to push a theme of uncertainty. In an environment where children are being surrounded by knowledge, a school, they are being faced with the biggest question that nobody truly knows the answer to; where do we go after death?“The School” is about a class that is struck by a remarkable amount of death. It starts off small, baby orange trees becoming sticks in their hands, then slowly progresses until two of their classmates die in a construction accident. While the death is plentiful in this story, what is missing is emotion. The story starts almost comical. The narrator, Edgar, talks about the salamanders and herb garden like a joke. The tone completely changes when the puppy dies. People do not usually take a dog dying lightly. Quickly following the dog is the Korean orphan that the class adopts. The tone goes from quick witted and almost floaty to short and to the point. Donald Barthelme uses a variety of literary devices to get his message across. The one that emphasizes the theme most to me is litotes. Litotes is a deliberate understatement for effect. Usually, when death is spoken about in stories there is plenty of emotion. When death is brought up around children it is written about very lightly. Right after the tragedy of Matthey and Tony’s death, the narrator says “I forgot to mention Billy Brandt’s father who was knifed fatally when he grappled with a masked intruder in his home.” Morbid graphics like this one are almost never revealed in a story involving children. This scene adds to the greater message of the story. In the middle of the story there is a scene that is the best example of Litotes. This scene describes Matthew Wein and Tony Mavrogordo’s death. All it says is “There were all these big wooden beams stacked, you know, at the edge of the excavation. There’s a court case coming out of that, the parents are claiming that the beams were poorly stacked. I don’t know what’s true and what’s not. It’s been a strange year.” This paragraph is literally about young children dying. There is absolutely no emotion or grief shown anywhere in this passage. In most literature, a child’s death is covered with mountains of remorse and grief. In this story, the death of children is approached with a cold and factual touch. Soon after their death, the children begin to question Edgar. “They asked me, where did they go? The trees, the salamander, the tropical fish, Edgar, the poppas and mommas, Matthew and Tony, where did they go?..... And they said, is death that which gives meaning to life? And I said no. life is that which gives meaning to life. Then they said, but isn’t death, considered as a fundamental datum, the means by which the taken-for-granted mundanity of the everyday may be transcended in the direction of…” The questioning of the narrator is when the true meaning of the story shines through. In a place known for learning and education, the kids are questioning the meaning of everything. They feel this uncertainty in an environment where they have been told knowledge comes from. This theme of uncertainty rings throughout the short story. At the beginning, there is no reasons why the trees, snakes, or even Edgar the puppy, dies. Growing up, whenever you wanted your questions to be answered you brought them to school. Bring the questions to your teachers and they will teach you. When the children in “The School” ask Edgar where all of the trees and families go after death, they are given back nothing. They retaliate back with serious questions. They ask “is death that which gives meaning to life?” Nothing but vague and typical answers are given back. In educational communities, certainty is almost always a guarantee. In the fictional school in Donald Barthelme’s “The School”, nothing is certain. The place where the children should feel comforted in asking questions and comforted in overall setting is altered by death. Not even their teacher Edgar can give them the answers they need. Barthelme uses literary devices like litotes and tone emphasize the lack of emotion when talking about death. The tone switch helps the audience see how important it is for children to ask questions in educational settings. Overall, “The School” brings forth life’s greatest question, where do we go after death, in children. This question is surrounded by uncertainty in the place that kids feel the most comfortable to ask questions, a school. At the beginning of “The School”, there is almost a comical tone to the way the narrator speaks. The colloquial diction of the first few paragraphs makes the story seem like it is going to be funny. The narrator goes from speaking with ellipses and a lot of phrases like “well….” And “you know”. Edgar is quick witted and makes the trees and salamanders dying seem like a joke There is a major shift in the paragraph when Edgar, the puppy, dies. All of the phrases and ellipses disappear. Suddenly, death is not funny.The point of view itself is something to be questioned as well. Edgar, our narrator, is the student’s teacher. When you are young, teachers know all. It is easy to feel like they know everything there ever is to know. Edgar is very uncertain throughout the entire story. In the very first paragraph he does not even know why the children are planting trees. When the children begin to question why all their friends and family are dying and where they are going, he has no answers for them (as most would). All of this brings up the greater question, when is death “funny”. When trees and small “insignificant” animals die, it is easy to make jokes and act like it is not a big deal. People consider dogs to be serious members of their families, but they are still animals. Why do we care so much about them but not trees or snakes? The overarching question in relation to the tone deals with the “humor” of death. This question paired with the children questioning where people go after death, and what death means fuels the theme of uncertainty in the story.In a place where children should feel confident to have questions answered, they instead are being faced with the biggest questions of life. These questions, the shift in tone, and the use of litotes emphasize the theme of uncertainty in “The School”. Edgar is not a reliable narrator. He does not really know what is going on, and seems not to care. All of these issues make the children even more confused where they should feel comfortable to ask questions. ................
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