This week in class we read a poem called "The History Teacher" by Billy Collins. This poem really stood out to me because this teacher whom all the students look up to for answers and the truth is lying to them. He was giving them information about wars and time periods that were completely false. However, when I read it I didn't think of it as lying. Although he was being naive, he was only trying to protect what innocence was left in the world. The children, however, have already lost their innocence, "...[leaving] his classroom for the playground to torment the weak and the smart...", they have already been exposed to the cruelty in our world. This is what the teacher was trying to protect them from. This poem showed an ideal world: where everyone is able to maintain their innocence without being exposed to inhumanity. I think that Billy Collins was trying to say that we see the world how we want to see it. The teacher saw the children's ability to stay innocent, while the speaker saw the inevitable cruelness of man. While many may disagree with me, I think the teacher was only trying to protect the kids from the dangers in the world in order to preserve their purity.
I actually think that the children should not have been protected in the way that the history teacher tried to, instead of completely lying he could simply have left out the scary parts. Though you do make a good point that it would be ideal for us all to keep our innocence, these kids need to understand the consequences of tormenting other kids, which can be shown through our history.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the history teacher had good intentions and was naivë to the fact that the kids were already corrupted but I think Collins is trying to show us that the more we hide the truth the more corrupt the world will be-history will repeat itself. I really like your optimistic interpretation of it though! Great post!
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