Monday, March 09, 2009

Accomplice

I thought this story was really interesting in its themes about how we view ourselves, how we hope others will view us, how difficult it is to sum up a person in words.

What did you think of Ms. Hempel's idea of having the students write their own anecdotals? I thought it was sort of touching how disappointed the parents were to find out the reports weren't authentic. How eager they had been to believe that someone had finally seen in their children the same potential for greatness that they did.
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4 comments:

kc said...

Yeah, it was touching. And it's interesting how the students saw themselves and how they wanted to be seen by their parents. Some people automatically go into braggart mode in a self-evaluation situation while others overdose on self-criticism — but in all of them there's a tacit plea to be UNDERSTOOD. That's why I thought "The Catcher in the Rye" stuff was interesting because Holden, at least as a student, is a world-class fuck-up by all the usual standards, but the presence of his own voice in Salinger's novel has such a humanizing and redemptive effect. Yeah, he has screwed up in countless ways, but we feel an enormous tenderness for him because we are so privvy to his consciousness and the reasons why he does things. And Holden is also a great example because his self-evaluation seems so honest and devoid of self-pity. We trust him as readers, as fellow human beings, even though as parents we might feel disappointment.

Bynum (oddly) doesn' mention it, but there's a fantastic scene in "Catcher" when Holden is fleeing the phoniness of his prep school and he meets the mother of a classmate on the train. Holden thinks the guy is a huge A-hole, but he tells the guy's mom what a terrific person her son is. He portays the son in a way that he knows will be very pleasing to the mom. It's a terrible delusion, but he seems to understand how desperately valuable the portrait might be to her. Holden knows what Bynum knows. Only, of course in Holden's case, there's no follow-up letter explaining that the assessment was a big fraud. But I think we still have the sense that the mom knows in her heart, she knows the truth, but is still grateful for occasional fuel for the delusion.

1:19 PM, March 09, 2009
Erin said...

That's an excellent comparison to that scene in "Catcher."

Ms. Hempel was sure that the students' forgeries would be glaringly obvious to the parents, but the parents were just too ready to believe the lofty evaluations. Most likely they, too, were looking for fuel for their delusions.

4:18 PM, March 09, 2009
Ben said...

I love how she paints adults (in this case, parents) as childlike.

Another thing this story shows is the incredible diversity in people. There were as many ways to approach the assignment as there were students. And even the parents each looked at it differently.

9:20 PM, March 09, 2009
Erin said...

Adults are often far too worried about what's "appropriate" for children to hear or discuss. They don't consider the value of a thought-provoking discussion and the freedom to speak openly about things they are going to think about regardless.

10:49 AM, March 10, 2009

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