Essay on The Relationships between Student and Teacher

It is known that in the novel The Small Room, May Sarton, a well-known American writer, discusses the theme of relationships between a student an a teacher (Peters 11). The main character in the novel is Lucy Winter who holds the position of a young professor in one of the colleges in New England. The author shows the readers Lucy’s experience as a professor of college. In Appleton College, she is concerned with the so called mechanics of effective teaching her subject at the educational institution. She tries to get the students interested in reading and thinking. The major goal of the novel is to discuss interpersonal relationships, teaching problems and some effective methods to solve these problems. According to the plot, Lucy Winter discovered the plagiarism in one of her students’ essay. She realizes that it is connected with psychological problems of Jane and wants to pay special attention to this fact. The other themes include the theme of lesbian relationships, the theme of love, the theme of equality and personal values. The main character of the novel realizes that “women are at last becoming persons first and wives second, and that is as it should be” (Sarton  23). Lucy learns that it is necessary to balance caring with the feeling of fairness. Moreover, Lucy discovers that any person whom she trusts can lie and Lucy wants Jane Seaman explain why she plagiarized the essay. This novel by Sarton is an educative literary work as the writer teaches what is good ad what is bad.