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1
THE FUN THEY HAD
Isaac Asimov
ANALYSIS
By Shilpa Sharma
Let's Read (2)
- Line by line reading and explanation
- Word meanings and explanation
Analysis
- Setting
- In-Depth Analysis of major Events
- Themes
Contents
Dispute: Argument
Superior: Higher in rank
Margie wasn’t prepared to dispute that. She said, I wouldn’t want a strange man in my house to teach me.
Tommy screamed with laughter. You don’t know much, Margie. The teachers didn’t live in the house. They had a special building and all the kids went there.
And all the kids learned the same thing?
Sure, if they were the same age.
But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently.
Just the same, they didn’t do it that way then. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to read the book.
I didn’t say I didn’t like it, Margie said quickly. She wanted to read about those funny schools.
They weren’t nearly half finished when Margie’s mother called, Margie! School!
Margie looked up. Not yet, mamma.
Now, said Mrs. Jones. And it’s probably time for Tommy, too.
So she said to Tommy, Why would anyone write about school?
Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes. Because it’s not our kind of school, stupid. This is the old kind of school that they had hundreds and hundreds of years ago.
Margie was hurt. Well, I don’t know what kind of school they had all that time ago. She read the book over his shoulder for a while, then said, Anyway, they had a teacher.
Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn’t a regular teacher. It was a man.
A man. How could a man be a teacher?
Well, he just told the boys and girls things and gave them homework and asked them questions.
A man isn’t smart enough.
Sure he is. My father knows as much as my teacher.
He can’t. A man can’t know as much as a teacher.
He knows almost as much I betcha.
LET'S READ
II
Nonchalantly: Casually
The screen was lit up, and it said: Today’s arithmetical lesson is on the addition of proper fractions. Please insert yesterday’s homework in the proper slot.
Margie did so with a sigh. She was thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather’s grandfather was a boy. All the kids from the whole neighborhood came, laughing and shouting in the school yard, sitting together in the schoolroom, going home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things so they could help one another on the homework and talk about it.
And the teachers were people…
The mechanical teacher was flashing on the screen. When we add the fractions ½ and ¼ …
Margie was thinking about how the kids must have loved it in the old days. She was thinking about the fun they had.
Margie said to Tommy, Can I read the book some more with you after school?
Maybe, he said, nonchalantly. He walked away whistling, the dusty old book tucked beneath his arm.
Margie went to the schoolroom. It was right next to her bedroom, and the mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her. It was always on at the same time every day except for Saturday and Sunday, because her mother said little girls learned better if they learned at regular hours.
Setting:
This story is set in the future. The date is May 17, 2155.
SETTING
Tommy Finds A Book
1. Today Tommy found a real book!
Her amazement shows that books are no more considered essential. They have lost their importance and have been replaced by technology.
2. When you’re though with the book, you just throw it away, I guess.
3. She said, Where did you find it? In my house... In the attic.
Books are seen as carriers of limited information. In the story, we see an excess of information which loses its significance. The aesthetic purposes such as relaxation, personal development, memoir keeping, as the recorders of history and culture etc. fulfilled by books are not taken into consideration.
IN DEPTH
ANALYSIS
The book found in the attic symbolises its lost importance in the age of technology.
Throwing away of books shows that they are seen as a disposable item which is unnecessary.
Margie's Mother Calls The Country Inspector
1. Her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.
2. The inspector had smiled after he was finished and patted her head. He smiled at her and gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart.
3. And he patted Margie’s head again
Although considered supreme, a machine still requires the expertise of a human being to repair it. It shows however superior machines become, they are still created by humans, therefore could not replace them completely.
Margie's Mother Calls The Country Inspector
The inspector, a human is more kind to the girl than her mechanical teacher
4. He said to her mother, It’s not the little girl’s fault, Mrs. Jones. Actually, the over-all pattern of her progress is quite satisfactory.
He identifies the girl's potential which the mechanical teacher, who is designated for that job couldn't do. This again shows that human connections are irreplacable.
The Relationship Between Margie And Her Teacher
1. But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently.
2. Margie went to the schoolroom. It was right next to her bedroom, and the mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her. It was always on at the same time every day.
The future teacher is programmed to promote individualised education. The school is always accessible.
3. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse. The geography sector was geared a little too quick.
Relationship Between Margie And Her Teacher
4. Margie had hoped he wouldn’t know how to put it together again...there it was again, large and black and ugly with a big screen…The part she hated the most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers.
Even though personalised, the robot commits errors and couldn't judge its student's capability. Errors that couldn't be identified by the machine could only be identified by a human.
5. Margie was disappointed. She had been hoping they would take the teacher away altogether.
Even though geared to her specific needs, Margie hates the robotic teacher.
Margie and Her Thoughts About School
1. Margie was scornful. School? What’s there to write about school? I hate school.
2. Why would anyone write about school?
3. Margie’s mother called, Margie! School!...Margie looked up. Not yet, mamma.
Margie and Her Thoughts About School
4. A man. How could a man be a teacher? A man isn’t smart enough. A man can’t know as much as a teacher.
The mere mention of the term school makes Margie mad with anger. She doesn't feel connected to her school at all.
Margie has no confidence on human capabilities. She feels humans are not knowledgable enough.
5. Margie was thinking about how the kids must have loved it in the old days. She was thinking about the fun they had. She was thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather’s grandfather was a boy.
While the teacher is busy teaching her, she cannot concentrate. She keeps on wondering what it would be like to go to a traditional school. Technology promotes Social Distance between humans.
Themes:
1. Education in the Future:
The author explores what our education system will look like in the future.
-Robotic teacher
-Tele-Books/E-Books
-No School Building
-Punch Code Assignments
-Individualised teaching
MAJOR THEMES
2. Technology and its Impact on Us
The story explores how technology leads to lack of social connections. Even though the mechanical teacher imparts individualised instruction, there is no personal connection between the teacher and Margie.
3. Importance of Books
Books are seen as an outdated item fit for throwing away after being read once. This shows how we are slowly ignoring the importance of books altogether.
Thank You!
Thank You!
Classroom
Notebooks
Teachers
LET'S BEGIN
SCHOOL
Books
Teacher
Introduction to the Story
Margie, an 11 year old girl
and Tommy, a 13 year old boy
live in the year 2155.
Tommy finds a book
in his attic
which belonged to
his Grandfather.
INTRODUCTION
Margie is curious to know what the book is all about.
2155
Tommy tells her that it is about the real 'School' which was very different from theirs. They discuss how fun it would be for the children who attended it years ago.
About the Author
Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)
- He was an American author born in Russia.
- He is one of the most famous Science fiction writers of all times. He has written over 500 books, short stories, novels.
- The fun they had is a short story originally published in 1951.
Crinkly: Crumpled or Creased
May 17, 2155
LET'S READ
I
Gee, said Tommy, what a waste. When you’re though with the book, you just throw it away, I guess. Our television screen must have had a million books on it and it’s good for plenty more. I wouldn’t throw it away.
Same with mine, said Margie. She was eleven and hadn’t seen as many telebooks as Tommy had. He was thirteen.
She said, Where did you find it?
In my house. He pointed without looking, because he was busy reading. In the attic.
What’s it about?
School.
Margie even wrote about it that night in her diary. On the page headed May 17, 2155, she wrote, Today Tommy found a real book!
It was a very old book. Margie’s grandfather once said that when he was a little boy his grandfather told him that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper.
They turned the pages, which were yellow and crinkly, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving the way they were supposed to – on a screen, you know. And then, when they turned back to the page before, it had the same words on it that it had had when they read it the first time.
Scornful: Angry
Sorrowfully: Sadly
Patted: Tap lightly
Margie was scornful. School? What’s there to write about school? I hate school. Margie had always hated school, but now she hated it more than ever. The mechanical teacher had been giving her test after test in geography and she had been doing worse and worse until her mother had shaken her head sorrowfully and sent for the County Inspector.
He was a round little man with a red face and a whole box of tools with dials and wires. He smiled at her and gave her an apple, then took the teacher apart. Margie had hoped he wouldn’t know how to put it together again, but he knew how all right and, after an hour or so, there it was again, large and black and ugly with a big screen on which all the lessons were shown and the questions were asked. That wasn’t so bad. The part she hated the most was the slot where she had to put homework and test papers. She always had to write them out in a punch code they made her learn when she was six years old, and the mechanical teacher calculated the marks in no time.
The inspector had smiled after he was finished and patted her head. He said to her mother, It’s not the little girl’s fault, Mrs. Jones. I think the geography sector was geared a little too quick. Those things happen sometimes. I’ve slowed it up to an average ten-year level. Actually, the over-all pattern of her progress is quite satisfactory. And he patted Margie’s head again.
Margie was disappointed. She had been hoping they would take the teacher away altogether. They had once taken Tommy’s teacher away for nearly a month because the history sector had blanked out completely.