payment page
Edgar, an elementary school teacher, relates the challenges his class has faced throughout the year to an unknown listener or listeners.
He begins by saying that his students planted orange trees to learn about root systems and individual responsibility. All the trees died, and the teacher is unsure why. He suspects bad soil or low-quality trees, and he and his teaching assistant, Helen, complained about it. The students were disappointed, and Edgar thinks their disappointment had been exacerbated by the recent death of their classroom pets, snakes. During a strike, the reasons for which remain unspecified, the school’s heating system had been shut off, and all the pet snakes died, presumably from the cold.
The class also planted herb gardens, which also died, and Edgar speculates that overwatering was the cause. He and his assistant suspected or joked together that the herb garden’s demise might have been intentional, given that so many classroom animals already had died. They’d lost gerbils, white mice, and salamanders. Edgar suspects they died of suffocation because the students carried them around in plastic bags. Now, he reflects, they know not to do that.
Though surprised by the other deaths, Edgar wasn’t surprised when the class’s tropical fish died. The fish are very delicate and die every year. Still, the school’s lesson plan requires the study of fish, so Edgar always teaches the unit. Because the deaths are inevitable, Edgar points out that he just tries to get through the unit quickly.
Next, Edgar relates the story of the class puppy. A student rescued it from under a parked delivery truck, and when she brought the puppy to school, he feared the worst. The class adopted the dog, although Edgar knew it was against school regulations. He didn’t want to disappoint his students, who enjoyed playing with the yapping puppy and named it Edgar. The students laughed over the joke and loved saying the name. One morning, within a few weeks, he discovered the puppy’s body in the supply closet, where it slept. He gave it to the custodian to dispose of before the children arrived. Now he suspects it died of distemper since it likely was not immunized.
Immediately following the tale of the puppy, Edgar explains that his students had “adopted” a Korean orphan named Kim. They each sent twenty-five cents a month to an agency that provided Kim with support. Eventually, they received a letter notifying them that Kim, too, had passed away. The agency offered a replacement adoptee, but the letter didn’t provide any information about Kim’s death. The class decided against adopting another child. They were upset and began to wonder if their school was cursed. Edgar believes they have just had bad luck.
Edgar next reveals that there have been an unusual number of family deaths over the course of the year. Parents died by heart attack, suicide, drowning, car accident, and stroke, and one had even died from a fatal stabbing during a home invasion. Many grandparents also died. Edgar is uncertain if the number of deaths is higher than usual, but he thinks it is.
The year’s culminating tragedy was the death of two students, Matthew Wein and Tony Mavrogordo. They died in an accident while playing at a construction site. The boys’ parents have recently taken their case to court, claiming that wooden beams had been poorly stacked. Edgar doesn’t know who is to blame or what the truth may be. He simply says, “It’s been a strange year.”
One day, the class discussed the deaths. Students asked where all the dead plants, animals, and people had gone after dying. Edgar told them he didn’t know. They asked whether death gives meaning to life. He replied that life gives meaning to life. Edgar then casts the students’ final questions as increasingly complex and esoteric. He says the children concluded by claiming not to like death’s uncertainties, nor would they accept the idea that life gains meaning through the existence of death. Edgar agreed.
The class then asked Edgar to make love to his teaching assistant, Helen, so that they could see how it is done. He responded that, although he liked Helen, he would not do as they asked because the school would fire him if he did. In addition, he told them, lovemaking is usually not done for demonstration. The kids pleaded with him, insisting that they needed something to show that life has value. All the talk of death and their experiences had frightened them.
Edgar tried to reassure the class, telling them that there is “value everywhere,” and in response, Helen hugged him. He kissed her forehead a few times. The children became excited by their affectionate gestures. Then, there was a knock at the door, and “the new gerbil” walked into the classroom. The students erupted in wild cheers.
