Death In The Classroom Analysis

In Walt Whitman’s story Death in the Schoolroom, A schoolteacher named Lugare has a complaint that a student of his was caught in the act of stealing fruit from a garden the night before. From the story it is clear that the stolen fruit has no direct connection to the school, but the case is still brought to the schoolteacher’s attention. As part of his job the schoolteacher feels obliged to identify and punish the thief. As a schoolteacher he feels responsible for his students both in and out of the classroom. Lugare comes to the conclusion that the thief is student Tim Barker. Unfortunately, Tim is clueless regarding the stolen fruit dilemma. Lugare believing that Tim is guilty takes pleasure in torturing him unaware that he has a health condition. Due to Tim’s health condition, Lugare’s punishment leads to his untimely death. Should the teacher feel guilty for Tim’s death?
Tim Barker was a sick baby who no one thought would survive but, “Tim, the physician said, might possibly outgrow his disease; but everything was uncertain,”(Whitman). This excerpt shows that he could have died at any point due to his heath condition. Tim as a young boy tried his best to help his mother because his father had passed

Whitman said, “Lugare had been flogging A CORPSE,” (Whitman). No one in the class knew he has been dead for some time except the author and the teacher. Tim’s classmates might see that the teacher was in fact too harsh and as a result killed Tim. This action has the potential to affect the teacher’s reputation as well as the schools. Lugare might lose his job because the parents will undoubtedly be worried about the safety of their children. In the end no one ends up finding out who stole the fruit and the question of what will happen to Tim’s mother upon hearing about the death of her son