Similarities Between A Barred Owl And The History Teacher

Children are often seen as living in a bubble, innocent and untouched from life's harsh realities. Therefore, in order to explain difficult topics to them, it is common for adults to use animated, witty stories in hopes of protecting the child's pure outlook on life. In both “A Barred Owl” and “The History Teacher”, Richard Wilbur and Billy Collins allocate explanations to children in hopes of protecting them from what is really at hand. In “A Barred Owl”, Wilber uses the animations of the owl to bring ease to a frightened girl while Collins uses stories and play on words to distract the students from the tougher reality in “The History Teacher.” Both poets use literary devices to display how adults white lies can sway a child's perception despite having good intentions. …show more content…
The lessons presented by the teacher as metaphors were a showcase of irony and sarcasm because the actual events were nothing compared to his stories. “The children would leave his classroom for the playground to torment the weak and the smart” displays the irony of how the students are becoming destined to repeat the history their teacher so wanted them to avoid. The “weak and the smart” are being bullied by students who have been shielded from the pain of the past. Furthering his agenda of irony, the poet writes of the teachers walking home among the “flowerbeds and white picket fences” clueless to the destruction he is creating. The white picket fences symbolize the ideal life, one that the history teacher is desperately trying to