In this very slight short story, packaged in book form as a novella and fattened with many blank pages, Clavell focuses on an elementary school classrIn this very slight short story, packaged in book form as a novella and fattened with many blank pages, Clavell focuses on an elementary school classroom immediately after a war, when the victors have made control of the educational institutions in an unnamed western country—evidently the US—a priority. Dressed in olive drab, a young, pretty, fresh-smelling nineteen-year-old enters the classroom. She is “New Teacher”. In her light, entirely unaccented, perfect English, she directs the children’s frightened teacher, an old-school elderly spinster, to the principal’s office, and then proceeds with an expert deconstruction of the (American) pledge of allegiance. In a few short minutes, the flag is dismantled—its cloth is cut, a piece is distributed to each student, and the flag pole is tossed out the window. God is shown not to exist, and prayer is, of course, proved to be utterly ineffectual. No one, other than another human, will give you anything, New Teacher says. “Praying to God or anything or anyone is a waste of time.” In sweet tones, she also undermines parents and their old-fashioned ideas. The grown-ups with “bad thoughts” are being sent back to school to unlearn them. In fact, the father of Johnny, the only resistant student in the class, is one of them. Ultimately, though, even this boy submits to the teacher’s charm and gentle reprogramming. Candy is enough for New Teacher to gain power over Johnny’s classmates, but she must employ a different strategy with him. She acknowledges—strokes—his intelligence and need for power by appointing him class monitor.
The last few pages of this little book apparently present a reproduction of Clavell’s scrawling handwritten explanation of the genesis of the story. According to this account, years ago one of Clavell’s children asked for a dime as a reward for quickly, accurately, and fluently reciting the pledge of allegiance—without comprehending a single word of what she was saying. This concerned the author greatly. Not understanding what you’re signing on to, just obediently and unquestioningly doing what you’re told, and getting rewards for your easy compliance—as the story illustrates—sets you up to be indoctrinated, controlled, and exploited by others (including pretty, olive-drab-clad young women who are cogs in Dear Leader’s communist, atheistic, and oppressive system).
This is a facile, underwhelming little story, dressed up as a cautionary tale. It’s not quite clear whether the author thinks the pledge is a bad thing in itself (though I detected a slight whiff of horror at the possibility of a nation’s religion and belief in God being erased). What Clavell seems to be concerned about is citizens, particularly the youngest, not being encouraged to think about what they are taught. When an educational system values and fosters obedience and compliance in children, it consequently plays a major role in creating a society whose citizenry is vulnerable to manipulation and control—by its own government and others.
CanadianReader
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brainwashing-indoctrination
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