The Odd in Five Oaks
Gryphon is a story by Charles Baxter made in Tommy’s point of view. In Five Oaks, Michigan, there is rarely anything interesting occurring. At his unenthusiastic school, Tommy’s 4th grade teacher, Mr. Hibler, gets terribly sick and calls in for a substitute the next day. Tommy expects the substitute teacher to be community college graduate moms who nervously cover material that the class has already mastered. To his wonder, the substitute is someone no one in Five Oaks has never seen, named Miss Ferenczi. Miss Ferenczi is no doubt an extremely unique substitute teacher who tells miraculous stories that bewilder the kids in Mr. Hibler’s class. Tommy defends Miss Ferenczi because she is the uncommon, exciting spice in his …show more content…
Everyone sits still and silent in their seats the whole time she plays her list of stories. “I had liked her. She was strange. I thought I could nail him, ‘ If she was lying,’ I said, ‘What did she say that was a lie?’ ” (pg. 56 l. 413-415). After school, a classmate named Carl Whiteside tells Tommy Miss Ferenczi is lying about the extravagant set of stories she had told them. Tommy finds himself demanding proof that she lied. Carl says that there are no such things that are half lion and half bird, and Tommy improvises and lies that there is a half human and half hamster combination called a humster. After, Tommy rushes home to look in the dictionary to see if the word gryphon really exists. “I found it. Gryphon: ‘variant of griffin.’ Griffin: ‘a fabulous beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.’ (pg.59 1.490-493). To defend Miss Ferenczi, Tommy needed evidence that what she said to the class was the truth. At home, Tommy looks up the word gryphon and is proud that Miss Ferenczi told the truth. When Tommy’s imminent weirdness, Miss Ferenczi, is suspected by the his classmates, Tommy covers up for her because she is the different teacher he wants to see …show more content…
Tommy seeks for the new parts of Five Oaks because the same sights he lives with are no longer amusing. “I knew every barn, every broken windmill, every fence, every anhydrous ammonia tank, by heart.”(pg.63 l.608-609). Tommy memorized all the details in Five Oaks and searches for unique sights to take him away. Miss Ferenczi is new to Five Oaks, and she makes Tommy’s heart pound. This shows that Tommy truly has the urge to find uniqueness in Five Oaks.“ ‘She said that six times eleven was sometimes sixty-eight!’ I said ”(pg.58 l.473-474). Tommy is bewildered by Miss Ferenczi’s stories because they are interesting to know. He even starts to tell his mom exactly what Miss Ferenczi told him, because those stories are fresh stories that don’t come from Five Oaks. Tommy is a curious boy who always has his senses open for strange things where he
Gryphon is a story by Charles Baxter made in Tommy’s point of view. In Five Oaks, Michigan, there is rarely anything interesting occurring. At his unenthusiastic school, Tommy’s 4th grade teacher, Mr. Hibler, gets terribly sick and calls in for a substitute the next day. Tommy expects the substitute teacher to be community college graduate moms who nervously cover material that the class has already mastered. To his wonder, the substitute is someone no one in Five Oaks has never seen, named Miss Ferenczi. Miss Ferenczi is no doubt an extremely unique substitute teacher who tells miraculous stories that bewilder the kids in Mr. Hibler’s class. Tommy defends Miss Ferenczi because she is the uncommon, exciting spice in his …show more content…
Everyone sits still and silent in their seats the whole time she plays her list of stories. “I had liked her. She was strange. I thought I could nail him, ‘ If she was lying,’ I said, ‘What did she say that was a lie?’ ” (pg. 56 l. 413-415). After school, a classmate named Carl Whiteside tells Tommy Miss Ferenczi is lying about the extravagant set of stories she had told them. Tommy finds himself demanding proof that she lied. Carl says that there are no such things that are half lion and half bird, and Tommy improvises and lies that there is a half human and half hamster combination called a humster. After, Tommy rushes home to look in the dictionary to see if the word gryphon really exists. “I found it. Gryphon: ‘variant of griffin.’ Griffin: ‘a fabulous beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.’ (pg.59 1.490-493). To defend Miss Ferenczi, Tommy needed evidence that what she said to the class was the truth. At home, Tommy looks up the word gryphon and is proud that Miss Ferenczi told the truth. When Tommy’s imminent weirdness, Miss Ferenczi, is suspected by the his classmates, Tommy covers up for her because she is the different teacher he wants to see …show more content…
Tommy seeks for the new parts of Five Oaks because the same sights he lives with are no longer amusing. “I knew every barn, every broken windmill, every fence, every anhydrous ammonia tank, by heart.”(pg.63 l.608-609). Tommy memorized all the details in Five Oaks and searches for unique sights to take him away. Miss Ferenczi is new to Five Oaks, and she makes Tommy’s heart pound. This shows that Tommy truly has the urge to find uniqueness in Five Oaks.“ ‘She said that six times eleven was sometimes sixty-eight!’ I said ”(pg.58 l.473-474). Tommy is bewildered by Miss Ferenczi’s stories because they are interesting to know. He even starts to tell his mom exactly what Miss Ferenczi told him, because those stories are fresh stories that don’t come from Five Oaks. Tommy is a curious boy who always has his senses open for strange things where he