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Daniel Smith

Sally Smits

English 105

10/31/10

Diction and Symbolism in The School

Many authors have made death and its peculiar relationship with the living the subject of

their work, but few have done it so amusingly as Donald Barthelme does in his short story, The

School. This complex short story is about the massive tide of death which surrounds a modern

school teacher and his students in a civilized and peaceful environment and it is told from the

teacher's perspective by the teacher. Two literary elements take the stage in this story, diction and

symbolism. Diction is an authors word choice and is often used to enhance the characterization

of a particular character. Symbolism is making an object represent something beyond its

physical form. Barthelme enhances the role of diction in the story by making the teacher the

story teller, and in doing so creates the opportunity to shed a revealing light on what would

normally be seen as simply tragic, the tide of death. In addition to this strong use of diction

Barthelme uses symbolism to create a connection between a surreal and unlikely situation and a

reader who lives in reality. Combined these two elements succeed in both creating empathy for

the characters and enhancing the meaning of the story.

“The children were very conscientious with the herb gardens and some of them

probably...you know, slipped them a little extra water when we weren't looking. Or
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maybe...well, I don't like to think about sabotage, although it did occur to us. I mean, it was

something that crossed our minds. We were thinking that way probably because before that the

gerbils had died, and the white mice had died, and the salamander...well, now they know not to

carry them around in plastic bags. Of course we expected the tropical fish to die.” The strongest

aspect of the diction which Barthelme makes use of is its casual yet uncomfortable tone. As the

teacher discusses the deaths, from the orange trees all the way to the deceased classmates and

parents he maintains this tone. The effect of this constant tone is twofold. First, the teacher is

made to seem insensitive or desensitized to the events that he is relaying to the reader. Secondly

it draws attention to the relationship between the death of a plant and the death of a person

because they are treated equally. The first effect helps create empathy or antipathy for the

teacher depending on whether the reader sees him as a victim or an uncaring jerk. The creation

of said empathy or antipathy is key because the teacher is a major symbol and thus helps the

reader maintain coherency with the meaningful nature of the story. The second affect mimics the

first in that helps the reader find meaning, but it does so more directly by discussing and thus

disclosing the main topic of the story, death and its place within life. (Barthelme)

Symbolism is the most important element of The School because it connects the

characters and their setting to create something meaningful despite the distracting ordeal that is

the massive death spiral. A good place to start is the school because it is a symbol which

connects to two other main symbols. A school is a building, but represents a place of learning.

What knowledge does the school offer? It offers the knowledge of life, which is to say the

school compartmentalizes life in its entirety into forms which can be experienced in the short

term, from birth till death. The students and the teacher are symbols as well, and their
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relationship with this school of life is what Barthelme uses to expose his thoughts on death's

place in life. The students are symbolic of mans desire for knowledge, and having experienced

so much death they are filled with questions, seeking the knowledge to explain their experiences.

The teacher represents the purveyor of knowledge, and is supposed to be able to give the

children the knowledge they seek, but ultimately fails. “They asked me, where did they go?

The trees, the salamander, the tropical fish, Edgar, the poppas and mommas, Mathew and Tony,

where did they go? And I said, I don't know, I don't know. And they said, who knows? and I

said, nobody knows.” The failure of the teacher to supply answers is one of the most critical

moments because it sends a clear message, “nobody knows.” The students aren't satisfied though

and suggest their own answer saying “isn't death that which gives meaning to life?” This

supposition by the students and the denial of an answer by the teacher is an important part

because it helps explain why the teacher is so uncomfortable when he talks. He and the other

adults squabble over how death occurs, but having struggled in the past to discern meaning or

reason behind death they have learned to avoid thinking about why death occurs, where as the

immature students are still struggling to find a suitable satisfying answer for why. (Barthelme)

Ultimately Barthelme does a good job exposing death and its role within life. Using the

school as a symbol, and the cowardice of his story teller he is able to send several clear and

chilling messages to the reader while simultaneously creating a situation so ridiculous it isn't

overbearing in nature.
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Works Cited

Barthelme, Donald. The School. Print.