Truth In The Story 'Gryphon' By Charles Baxter

530 Words2 Pages

Weird In the story, “Gryphon,” by Charles Baxter, a boy named Tommy encounters someone who is weird and different. She, Miss Ferenczi, tells of stories that don’t really make sense. She speaks some truth and some false with her strange stories and is really mixed up… just like a gryphon. In the story, Tommy defends Miss Ferenczi. Why? Tommy seems to just defend her because he likes her. In the beginning of the story he says, “I like her. She was strange.” This shows that Tommy likes people who are different, unique, or strange. He also seemed to want to believe the weird stories Miss Ferenczi tells of and wants others to believe too. Tommy also defends Miss Ferenczi in the bus when Carl Whiteside says that she lies about the half lion and half bird. “I read in this newspaper my mom bought in the IGA about this scientist, this mad scientist in the Swiss Alps, and he’s been putting genes and chromosomes and stuff together in test tubes, and he combined a human being and a hamster.” tells Tommy. He made up the “Humster” story just so Carl would believe her. These all show that Tommy only defends her because he …show more content…

One would be because he wants to believe Miss Ferenczi’s unbelievable stories. “I ran into the living room, pulled out a dictionary next to the TV stand, and opened it to the Gs. After five minutes I found it. Gryphon: “variant of griffin.” Griffin: “a fabulous beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.” This quote shows that Tommy wanted to know if a Griffin, a creature that Miss Ferenczi talked about, was real. Another piece of evidence would be when Tommy felt his mom’s diamond ring on his forehead. He remembered what Miss Ferenczi said,”and this is why women wear them on their fingers, as a sign of womanhood.” Tommy then knew that she was telling the truth. These all show that Tommy wants to believe the fabulous stories that Miss Ferenczi tells which is why he defends

Open Document