What Do Fish Have to Do With Anything?

“Talk to Me” and “Teacher Tamer” take different approaches to examining the nature of loneliness and the challenge of Overcoming Obstacles to Human Connection. While Maria O’Sullivan suffers in the absence of her runaway brother, Brian, and chafes under her parents’ awkward silence on the topic, Mrs. Wessex must endure a different form of isolation amongst her students, who see her as an austere authority figure rather than a fellow human being. Additionally, although each story’s premise differs greatly in the details, the protagonists (Maria and Gregory, respectively) must find a way to gain a better understanding of their own situations despite the mysteriously aloof and ostensibly unfair behavior of the adults in their lives.

Maria’s experience centers on her long-lost brother Brian, who left home after fighting with their parents and has since become a taboo subject in the family. Dismayed by this systemic silence, Maria struggles with the weight of her desperate need to remember Brian and process his absence despite her parents’ refusal to acknowledge his existence. Because her friends avoid the topic too, Maria’s isolation deepens, and the secrecy imposed by her parents prevents her from forming genuine connections with her peers and keeps her locked in loneliness.

This taboo around Brian illustrates the tension between adult authority and adolescent self-determination. Maria is told repeatedly that Brian should not be mentioned at all, but her lived experience of him as a loving older brother clashes with the shameful version that her parents carry. Faced with this contradiction, Maria experiences an internal struggle that reflects a common rite of passage: the moment when an adolescent recognizes for the first time that the adult narrative may not capture the whole truth. When she doggedly questions her parents and even blames her father for driving Brian away, these bold acts show her growing desire to assert her own moral perspective.

At the same time, Maria demonstrates empathy and longing for connection, as is demonstrated when she projects hope onto the anonymous phone calls by deciding to treat the silent caller as Brian himself. The imagined conversations allow her to process her grief, guilt, and longing, and she also finds a way to express her gratitude for the love that Brian gave her. Even when she suspects that the caller may not be him, she clings to the idea of connection because it fills the void left by her family’s persistent secrecy and silence. Her choice to share her thoughts and feelings with the caller reveals how badly she needs someone to listen, even if that listener is imaginary. These emotional threads build to an ironic climax when the revelation that the calls were simply a telemarketing glitch underlines the futility of Maria’s forlorn hope. However, Avi still closes the story on a note of growth, for rather than collapsing in despair, Maria resolves to act differently with her soon-to-be-born brother. In this light, her decision to help teach Toby to talk is symbolic of her resolve to break the cycle of silence and repression that surrounded Brian. In the end, her loneliness teaches her the importance of communication, empathy, and connection, even in the face of adult-imposed taboos.

Just as Maria finds herself conflicted between her own interior truth and the version of reality that her parents attempt to perpetuate, Gregory’s experience in “Teacher Tamer” examines the contradictions of authority and the ways that children interpret the actions of adults. To Gregory, Mrs. Wessex’s habit of singling him out for punishment appears irrational and unfair, especially when she punishes him for actions that he did not commit and repeatedly misreads his intentions. This conflict-ridden dynamic fuels Gregory’s resentment and leads him to fantasize about taking petty revenge on her. However, when Gregory discovers that Mrs. Wessex’s actions are deliberate, he gains a chance to learn about the power of Empathy as an Antidote to Cruelty; his perspective is fundamentally altered when he realizes that she has been intentionally picking on him to create a social buffer that allows him to thrive in his new school. Paradoxically, by redirecting her punitive actions towards him, she ensures that he gains his peers’ approval and solidarity, and they do not reject him for his intellect. Suddenly, Gregory realizes that what felt like cruelty was in fact a protective strategy, and his new understanding allows him to reframe Mrs. Wessex’s stern behavior as a hidden kindness, not a form of hostility.

The story is ultimately a study in empathy. Gregory initially sees Mrs. Wessex only as an authority figure and assumes that her role gives her wealth, security, and distance from the struggles of her students. It is only when he follows her home and gains a glimpse of her modest lifestyle that his assumptions begin to shift. Upon seeing her in a context beyond her teaching role, he finally recognizes her humanity, her vulnerability, and her deep concern for her students. This shift in perspective helps him to reinterpret her classroom behavior in a positive light. By telling her that she is the best teacher in the world, Gregory responds to her hidden empathy with a newfound empathy of his own.