School Stories: Delaney's Vision Of Perfection

Delaney’s vision of perfection is a reflection of the characters in his school stories, which shapes his opinions throughout the text. The teacher, also referred to as the Murderer, reflects bad habits by disciplining the children for pure enjoyment. He uses this as an excuse to torment Delaney, who refuses to live a deceitful life like everyone else. Evidently disappointed with his school and the morals of his classmates, Delaney says, “‘...if this were a proper school he’d be sent to Coventry’” (O’Connor 217). This shows that Delany compares the real world to a more perfect one that he reads about in his books; the other students don’t meet his standards or understand their imperfection. Despite the influences around him and the way

These presences shape Delaney’s conscience and guide almost every one of his decisions. Each one depicts a moral that Delaney reads about, such as courage and honesty. He explains, “They were all around me like invisible presences, and I hated to do anything which I felt they might disapprove of” (O’Connor 211). His views are idealistic because he strives to be perfect, especially on a spiritual level where he values the comfort of the presences. Rather than fall into the realistic pattern of dishonesty that most of the students have been encouraged to follow, Delaney let’s his idealism control his life more so than his own mind. When asked where he was after being late to class, Delany considers the typical response; he had been at church. However, he refrains from lying and thinks, “I wanted to say I had been at Mass, but I couldn’t. The invisible presences were all about me” (O’Connor 211). His behavior is strange to the other students, because they are realists that don’t have the ability to be any different. While it seems that he has moments of realism and acts on his own, he returns to his idealistic thoughts by the end of the story. He wanders inside the barracks on his way to school, pushing the Murderer over the edge when he arrives late yet again. Fearing his worst punishment yet, Delaney’s presences tell him that “‘The only good teacher is a dead teacher’” (O’Connor 220) This leads the reader to assume that he reverts to idealism and kills the teacher, especially because Delaney feels he is doing the school the justice they deserve. He is so determined to be like the presences and follow their guidance that he turns his imagination into a reality, writing his own heroic story in an extremely violent way. The presences never flee him in the end, showing the real power they had over