Arthur McShain

Death of a Teacher Arthur McShain

This teacher walks into a school....
"It's not all about her..."

Raw neophyte teacher Dale Barrow embarks on a reflective romp into the purgatory of the burlesque - deep south's Decadia Heights High School in the 1980's. All is well for a while as he navigates new technologies ("SchoolNip" - the cutting-edge intercommunication computer tool) and befriends a handicapped colleague, Gullmer. But he gradually finds himself caught in the ever-weaving orb of a sinister murder scheme and a platonic affair.

Barrow strives to decipher eccentric characters, deformed policies, and the profundity of loss in many forms - one of which is his being censured by authorities for using the modalities of dancing and music in his classroom. Yet at his nadir, beautiful senior student Angelea convinces him to stay in teaching; thus their platonic affair amplifies, aggravating his emotional fragility. The tethers of a childhood friendship, visits with his demented mother, a doting Aunt, and his own search for universality sustain him further. Finally, he and Gullmer break through a door to save a despised teacher's life, and redemption seems near, but a collapsing episode with Angelea and the pressures of a murder trial prompt him to execute his final escape north to live with his sister in Boston.

Barrow, however, has escaped nothing inside himself, and must break free from his deep wounds. Serendipity, family, and friends help him find college-age Angelea in Boston. They are reunited forever, and he returns to teaching, his true passion. In the end, it was "all about her"....

Combine Gatsby(Fitzgerald), Invisible Man (Ellison), and some Orwellian spice, and emerge with Death of a Teacher, the tale of a young teacher's escapades and lark of discovery in the public school system.