leaned first one way and then the other, down the line of children. She said, "Is everybody understanding this?"
One child said, "The misuse of power is the root of all evil?"
Alice said, "Well--" (246)
Alice and her students are an interesting group of characters in Wolf-Whistle. Alice on the one hand seems to be a magical force of good, (amongst a cast with its fair amount of awfulness) while on the other, she seems pretty socially ignorant and naive. She seems to understand the emotional damage that might accompany taking a group of kids to, say a mortician, and yet she continues with her hilariously-terrible teaching plan, which in itself is not awful because of inaccuracies, the epithets are indeed very true of the world, however the extremity of these philosophical consequences that come from the mouth of the children in relation to what simply just happens, around them, sheds light on what Nordan seems to be saying of the South and of the human condition. That the lessons are awful because they have to be given, and anyone will learn to live with the injustice of human action if it is all that they know. It is Alice's social ignorance that allows for the juxtaposition, -- the terrible-ness with the innocence of childhood, -- or rather the ability of the children to see what is in in front of them better than those in charge of raising them. What seems important about the children in Alice's class is their ability to be influenced by what the rest of the characters consider to be the norm for human action.
Why does Nordan need the voice of the Alice's school children? How might the line, "The greatest depth of our loss is the beginning of true freedom," relate to rest of the novel?"
I am also intrigued by Alice and her fourth grade class. However I do not see Alice as being 'socially ignorant and naive.' I think out of all the characters in Wolf-Whistle Alice best understands these social happenings. She views them not only from her own perspective but from those of everyone else. She depicts what it feels like to be the white mob, Uncle and Auntee, her students, the parrot, and the colored people in the courtroom. This understanding does not stem from naivety, but from an understanding of the world and social context around her. BUT, I am still at a loss for these crazy field trips that not only emotionally scar her students, but also have no relevance in the class room except to teach them depressing (which some could call realistic) life lessons.
ReplyDeleteSo, I repose Grayson's question: What does the voice of the fourth graders accomplish for Nordan in his novel?