"Gryphon" by Charles Baxter

The short story “Gryphon” by Charles Baxter is a good story, and it reminds me of another story whose title evades my memory. But I really do like it. I loved the characters and how well rounded they all were. Miss. Ferenczi the eccentric and possibly crazy substitute teacher; Mr. Hibler, the older teacher with the cough who teaches in a very formal way; Tommy, the little boy who loves to learn, and all the other sub-characters as well.
As I was reading I was wondering if Mr. Hibler would be okay, but when I realized that it only seemed to be the common cold I was able to read the story for what it is. I like how clear the wording was, I was able to read it all the way through without having to re-read anything.
Miss. Ferenczi is a very strange woman, she seems eccentric at times. She also seems to be a little bit out of it. She is almost inhuman in her nature. She also seems to be a lot like the children that she teaches, the fact that she doesn’t get along with the other teachers tells me that. It is also evident in her irresponsibility; she was reading tarot cards to her class. I think that that was very irresponsible; yes, Wayne did ask to have it read to him. But I think that even bringing them to the class was very irresponsible.
I do wonder if she was telling the truth when she talked about all of the places that she had been and all of the things she had done. I also wondered about what the exact conversation was that she had with the principal. Did she go quietly? Did she argue? Where did she go? I also wondered about why Tommy’s mother ignored him when he tried to tell her about his day, it seemed like she was really worried or stressed out. Why was that?
I also wondered why no body piped up when she decided that the rules didn’t apply to her or the class, that “six times twelve equals sixty-eight” (4).
Tommy is a very kind boy as well, he likes Miss. Ferenczi throughout the entire story; he apparently really liked to learn and he loved her teaching style, he seemed riveted by everything that she said; I also admired his devotion and belief in the fact that what she said was true.
Over all it was a very good story, it didn’t seem to have a message per say. But I think that the author wanted you to know about this character in his head that maybe came from one of his teachers.