The History Teacher

In class, many people believed that the teacher was a good teacher in the sense that he truly cares about the children. He strives to give them what he thinks is a quality education that will preserve their innocence. However, I don't believe that he truly cares about the children. He seems to go through the motions of being a teacher, and then returns home not caring about the children themselves, but whether they receive the lies that he tells. The language throughout the poem is relatively lax and simple, similar to an everyday conversation language, reflecting the attitude of the teacher himself. His general attitude towards the students' future is one of indifference and apathy. Furthermore, the poem doesn't rhyme and lacks a complex rhythm, giving the poem a feel of simplicity, again reflecting the teachers indifference towards his students' education. The teacher "walk[ing] home past flower beds and white picket fences" also stresses the teacher's apathy towards not only the students, but his own life. The symbol of a man returning home after work paired along with the symbol of the average american lifestyle - the white picket fence and flowers - represents the teacher's own lack of career ambition and passion in his own life. He is perfectly content with his life and doesn't have a reason to properly educate his class. It seems that this history teacher embodies the average American. Someone who works the normal 9-5 job, and returns home thinking about trivial things, such as wondering "if they would believe that soldiers in the Boer War told long, rambling stories" instead of thinking about how to better themselves.