Miss Sidley In Suffer The Children By Stephen King
Miss Sidley
In the story titled "Suffer the Children"; that is written by Stephen King the main character is Miss Emily Sidley. Miss Sidley is a third grade teacher at Summer Street School with extremely strict teaching methods. She is a small-framed older woman who has suffered from a bad back for twelve years. She is assertive, reclusive, and socially isolated. In other words, she is a typical example of an "old maid." Miss Sidley does not understand the behavior of today's children. Even so, no one else in the story at the school would ever guess that Miss Sidley has murder in her heart.
Miss Sidley believes a student named "Robert" has discovered the secret of her ability to watch the students with her back turned. She watches …show more content…
the class using the reflection of her glasses. When she sets her focus on Robert, she visualizes the child changing his appearance to that of a monstrous, evil being. Miss Sidley begins agonizing about her own sanity. She begins to believe there are many children with the ability to transform into strange alien like forms. Miss Sidley takes on a poisonous mindset. When reading about Miss Sidley we might think she is insane.
Who else but an insane woman would truly think about killing third grade children simply because she believes them to be monsters? The conversations she carries out in her mind are bizarre and of questionable sanity. It is nearly the middle of the story before we begin to question the children's real characters. Some of the children's strange transformations become more aggressive towards Miss Sidley. In the story, the numbers of children with the seemingly evil characteristics grow. The children strange behaviors towards Miss Sidley are an increasing threat to her. She takes a venomous dislike to the children. She thinks of her plan to kill the strange monster children as one of mercy in putting them out of their misery. The day of the shootings Miss Sidley carried a gun in her handbag. Her deceased brother had given the gun to her. "It is a very special test," she told the class. (446) Robert was the first to be led to the soundproof mimeograph room. Robert asks, "Would you like to see me change?" Miss Sidley shot him in the head. Miss Sidley killed twelve of the children, and had Margaret Crossen, a co-worker; not interrupted her she would have killed them all, one by
one.
Miss Sidley shows just how far people can go when they feel vulnerable. Miss Sidley appears to be a very straight-laced character that finds she has the ability for ruthless behavior. While the harshness and moodiness that exist in the plot are in her character, for her to actually kill the children is shocking. Miss Sidley does not go to trial but is quietly placed into Juniper Hill in Augusta for mental evaluation. After one year she was put into an experimental, encounter therapy. Buddy Jenkins was the psychiatrist for the daily work therapy sessions. During the sessions, Miss Sidley reads children's stories to a small group of retarded children. Then one day as Jenkins observed, Miss Sidley appears frightened and begs to be taken away. Buddy Jenkins observes the children watching her as she is taken away. That night Miss Sidley cut her throat with a broken mirror. Jenkins begins to watch the children more often. The story ending explains of Buddy Jenkins's inability to take his eyes off the children.
In the story titled "Suffer the Children"; that is written by Stephen King the main character is Miss Emily Sidley. Miss Sidley is a third grade teacher at Summer Street School with extremely strict teaching methods. She is a small-framed older woman who has suffered from a bad back for twelve years. She is assertive, reclusive, and socially isolated. In other words, she is a typical example of an "old maid." Miss Sidley does not understand the behavior of today's children. Even so, no one else in the story at the school would ever guess that Miss Sidley has murder in her heart.
Miss Sidley believes a student named "Robert" has discovered the secret of her ability to watch the students with her back turned. She watches …show more content…
the class using the reflection of her glasses. When she sets her focus on Robert, she visualizes the child changing his appearance to that of a monstrous, evil being. Miss Sidley begins agonizing about her own sanity. She begins to believe there are many children with the ability to transform into strange alien like forms. Miss Sidley takes on a poisonous mindset. When reading about Miss Sidley we might think she is insane.
Who else but an insane woman would truly think about killing third grade children simply because she believes them to be monsters? The conversations she carries out in her mind are bizarre and of questionable sanity. It is nearly the middle of the story before we begin to question the children's real characters. Some of the children's strange transformations become more aggressive towards Miss Sidley. In the story, the numbers of children with the seemingly evil characteristics grow. The children strange behaviors towards Miss Sidley are an increasing threat to her. She takes a venomous dislike to the children. She thinks of her plan to kill the strange monster children as one of mercy in putting them out of their misery. The day of the shootings Miss Sidley carried a gun in her handbag. Her deceased brother had given the gun to her. "It is a very special test," she told the class. (446) Robert was the first to be led to the soundproof mimeograph room. Robert asks, "Would you like to see me change?" Miss Sidley shot him in the head. Miss Sidley killed twelve of the children, and had Margaret Crossen, a co-worker; not interrupted her she would have killed them all, one by
one.
Miss Sidley shows just how far people can go when they feel vulnerable. Miss Sidley appears to be a very straight-laced character that finds she has the ability for ruthless behavior. While the harshness and moodiness that exist in the plot are in her character, for her to actually kill the children is shocking. Miss Sidley does not go to trial but is quietly placed into Juniper Hill in Augusta for mental evaluation. After one year she was put into an experimental, encounter therapy. Buddy Jenkins was the psychiatrist for the daily work therapy sessions. During the sessions, Miss Sidley reads children's stories to a small group of retarded children. Then one day as Jenkins observed, Miss Sidley appears frightened and begs to be taken away. Buddy Jenkins observes the children watching her as she is taken away. That night Miss Sidley cut her throat with a broken mirror. Jenkins begins to watch the children more often. The story ending explains of Buddy Jenkins's inability to take his eyes off the children.