The School by Donald Barthelme

“Of course we expected the tropical fish to die, that was no surprise.”

                Among the many experiments that the teacher does with his students, all of which unusually fail, one is experimenting with fish. I personally have never been able to keep a fish past a few days and I know many people today have gone through the same experience. It seems that the students are young and have already been through enough death with all of their experiments, so why put them though an experiment that will very obviously end in a tragedy? Is this year’s lesson plan all about death? 

“[W}ill you make love now with Helen (our teaching assistant) so that we can see how it is done?

                                      Barthelme’s The School is line after line of plants, animals and an adopted orphan dying. This interjection by the children is extremely out of the blue. At first, the reader might think that when the teacher says that “life is that which gives meaning to life,” that maybe the children see living life as making love and reproducing another life. But then, after reading Saunders “The Perfect Gerbil” it is clear that Berthelme’s purpose throughout the entire story is to lead us a continuous climax of death and then a random interjection to keep the audience interested. 

“There was a knock on the door, I opened the door, and the new gerbil walked in.”

                First, how does a gerbil knock on the door? Second, why introduce the children to another animal that will more than likely die shortly? Possibly, after the passionate kissing between Edgar and Helen, Berthelme felt that there was a turnover and now every experiment would stay alive. The idea of living like by making love with the teaching assistant changes the forces within the students and the classroom allowing future animals such as the gerbil to live.

distemper- a disease for dogs, caused by an unidentified virus and characterized by lethargy, fever, catarrh, photophobia, and vomiting

      to derange physically or mentally

      to discontent, to disturb(The School, 60)

datum- a single piece of information or fact (The School, 60)

sound- free from injury, damage, defect, disease, etc.; in good condition; healthy; robust: a sound heart;      a sound mind.

financially strong, secure, or reliable: a sound business; sound investments.

competent, sensible, or valid: sound judgment.

having no defect as to truth, justice, wisdom, or reason: sound advice.

of substantial or enduring character: sound moral values.  (The School, 61)