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THE WINTER OAK:
This story has two settings – the school and the forest – and covers one working day in the life of Anna Vasilevna. The main events of her day are: the teaching of parts of speech, Savushkin’s late arrival to class, her encounters with Savushkin both in the classroom and the staffroom, her journey through the woods (to Savushkin’s house) and her encounters with nature there in and finally the point where she reaches some kind of understanding of Savushkin.
The story focuses around Anna and Savushkin. Anna is clearly a hard-working, dedicated teacher, however, she is inexperienced and doesn’t really know her pupils nor understand the lives they lead. She jumps to conclusions about her students (especially Savushkin) and fails to see that the subjects she teaches do not touch the lives of her pupils. It is perhaps ironic that she corrects their language but doesn’t always listen to what her students are saying. In the school section she comes across as efficient, but narrow-minded. However, by the end of the story she has developed into a more understanding (and likeable) character.
The school section appears to be based on the conflict between a dedicated teacher and a difficult pupil, building up to a showdown with the boy’s mother. However, the plot changes direction in the forest section. When Savushkin notices that Anna is interested in the tracks in the snow and says: ‘An elk has been here’ there bebins a shifting in their relationship – that leads to him becoming the teacher, and ultimately Anna’s carer: ‘He was guarding his teacher from afar.’
The journey is an education for Anna in two ways – firstly it pens her eyes to natural beauty but it also allows her to see Savushkin in a different and positive light: ‘the most amazing thing in the forest was not the winter oak, but the small human being in the worn felt boots.’
This is clearly a story where the teacher learns the lessons and her lessons could be many:
• It is...
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