Identity

The author uses the Teacher’s relationship to her job and work in order to consider the ways in which the individual’s vocation might define her sense of self. The first formal indication of this dynamic is the Teacher’s name. Rather than referring to her by her first or last name, the author simply refers to her as "The Teacher" throughout the short story (46). In this way, she is enacting the relationship between the Teacher’s career and identity. Teaching is not simply a way for the Teacher to make money and support herself. Rather it is the sum of how she sees, understands, and regards her self-worth.

The short story’s narrative form similarly captures and conveys the Teacher’s consuming relationship with her work. At the start of the short story, the narrative alternates between scenes at the Teacher’s school and...