Doctor Jack-O’-Lantern by Richard Yates, 1954
The magic trick:
Using an elementary classroom routine as a way to convey the plot
Today we continue our back to school special from Richard Yates. Yesterday we considered a difficult teacher, Miss Snell, in “Fun with a Stranger.” In today’s story, we have a different type of teacher at the center of “Doctor Jack-O’-Lantern.”
On two separate occasions, the story tells us that Miss Price is dedicated and imaginative. She cares very much about her students, OK?. So when a green-toothed boy from the orphanage joins her class midyear, she is up to the challenge, ready to help him adjust as best as he can, even when it appears the social deck is stacked against him.
What the plot does to complicate her efforts and what those complications imply about society and education and what constitutes human kindness – well, it’s all very interesting. But from a story structure standpoint, I want to highlight the morning reports that Miss Price uses in her class.
Each Monday, students are encouraged to practice their public speaking skills by standing in front of the class and sharing something they did over the weekend.
It turns out to be a brilliant way to tell a story about kids in the fourth grade. We get to see their personalities, we get to see the social dynamics, and it becomes a key plot driver in the fate of the new boy in class.
And that’s quite a trick on Yates’s part.
The selection:
“What would you like us to call you, Vincent?” Miss Price inquired. “I mean, do you prefer Vincent, or Vince, or – or what?” (It was purely an academic question; even Miss Price knew that the boys would call him “Sabella” and that the girls wouldn’t call him anything at all.)
“Vinny’s okay,” he said in a strange, croaking voice that had evidently yelled itself hoarse down the ugly streets of his home.
“I’m afraid I didn’t hear you,” she said, craning her pretty head forward to one side so that a heavy lock of hair swung free of one shoulder. “Did you say ‘Vince’?”
“Vinny, I said,” he said again, squirming.
“Vincent, is it? All right, then, Vincent.” A few of the class giggled, but nobody bothered to correct her; it would be more fun to let the mistake continue.
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