Yurt
The story “Yurt” by Ms. Hempel is based on school environment relationships. It focuses on showing how teachers relate with each other, the students and what activities they engage in after school. There are various characters in this short story, and this analysis is done based on one character, character, Ms. Hempel. This story offers unique and detailed insights of Ms. Hempel’s life as a teacher. She can be viewed as a major character in this story after observing how she interacted with the other teachers and also her students. According to the story, Ms. Hempel was a seventh grade middle school teacher who seems to be in her teenage years and on the verge where she could question everything happening in her life and how it is affecting the students. Ms. Hempel’s personality is the most outstanding part of this story, which is like a discovery. Ms. Hempel who is a teacher is expected to be a grown-up and someone who is mature, but her character is displayed as a person trying to adjust to adulthood. The story portrays Ms. Hempel as someone with an immature personality, someone who is trying to discover her identity. She seems also not to be independent in her decision making but admires what her core workers do. It seems that she was a very thoughtful person, although decision making was not an easy thing for her.
As quoted from the story, “Ms. Hempel was sometimes astonished by the thoughts she’d have while walking to work: one morning she looked longingly at a patch of ice on the pavement and realized that if she were to fall and fracture her leg in several places, then she wouldn’t have to go to school. And maybe, if the doctors put her traction, a substitute would e hired for the rest of the year”. This shows how imaginative she could be at times when she was alone and needed to reflect on her life. The story also shows how she could struggle figuring out what is expected of her at work and generally in life. This character is a contraction of expectation because as a teacher she is supposed to be a role model for the students and the kind of imagination that goes on her mind does not match her status.
Ms. Hempel had a friend Ms. Duffy who had gone on a trip to Yemen and returned pregnant. Ms. Duffy got married to a kite maker and appeared to be joyously satisfied with her life upon returning to the school where she had taught formerly. Ms. Hempel can be described as being jealousy when she learns of her friend’s new status through an office gossip. She is a person who lives in dissatisfaction and refuses to accept her personality. She can also be viewed as an unsympathetic, which is an unlikable character. The entire story revolves around how this character could struggle in her decisions and try to guess about what others are doing.
Normally, the two friends used to visit an Irish bar after school on Fridays. But after return of Ms. Duffy, there was great change where by she seemed not interested anymore in such activities. She was ore focused on school activities and her growing belly. This made her friend; Ms. Hempel to feel lonely and lost or even some times envious of her friend’s feeling of satisfaction. Ms. Hempel learned this new character when they got a chance to reconnect. This reveals Ms. Hempel’s personality as someone who is insensitive. This is because she fails to realize that her friend’s condition does not allow her to accompany her to the Irish bar where they can take drinks. Ms. Duffy being pregnant any one would expect that she would reduce her visits to the bar or drink because she is pregnant.
Ms. Hempel’s character shows the various things that go on between the teachers, like gossip. This can be related to a real situation in a school environment. And while at school, she takes the pictures and asks Ms. Duffy who it is that took the photos. Like the other teachers, Ms. Hempel is therefore a gossiper because she takes part in all the gossips at school.
Ms. Hempel is a teacher who most students would want to connect with. This is because of her youthfulness and the fact that she admired her students’ fearless energy. This can be seen as contradicting compared to her personality when the reality is that most students would like to connect to teachers who are more of their age or behave as their peers. From Ms. Hempel’s character, we can draw lessons in life that although decision making is not easy, we can seek the opinion from others, but our stand should always be independent
In conclusion, it would be proper to conclude that Ms. Hempel is insensitive, indecisive and has a very weak personality. Though she is still in her young adulthood, her personality does not match the expectation of her job as a teacher and a role model to students (Shun-Lien, 2008).
Reference
Shun-Lien, B.S. (2008). Yurt. New York: the New Yorker.
