Aditya B.

Language Arts
Period 1

When Tommy defends Miss Ferenczi there are many things that we
learn about him. By drawing conclusions, inferring, and by simply relating to
occurrences and facts in the text I was able to figure out a lot about Tommy,
as you shall see in next three paragraphs.
As I was reading and rereading Gryphon one of the epiphanies that hit
me was: Tommy likes abstract thinking, just like Miss Ferenczi, and novel
ideas. I was able to draw this conclusion from various soupcons in the text.
We can tell that Miss Ferenczi thinks abstractly because of when [Miss
Ferenczi] nodded. Yes. So it is. But, and I know some people will not
entirely agree with me, at some times it is sixty-eight....In higher
mathematics numbers are...more fluid. The only thing a number does is
contain a certain amount of something. Think of water. A cup is not the only
way to measure a certain amount of water, is it? You could use saucepans or
thimbles. In either case, the water would be the same... (lines 174 - 188)
Another piece of evidence that supports that claim is Absentmindedly we
all did our arithmetic problems (lines 582 - 583). Before this sentence Miss
Ferenczi talks on and on about stuff that is abstract and impertinent to the
curriculum. The students in Miss Ferenczis class were then unable to think
pragmatically and ergo incorrectly answered their arithmetic problems. I
inferred that Tommy likes abstract thinking and the novel ideas of Miss
Ferenczi because of when Tommy canvassed with Carl on the first bus ride
home. I had to improvise, to outrage him (whole argument about how
there was a scientist who created a permutation of a man and a hamster that
was called a humster by entwinement of chromosomes and genes.) And this
mad scientist, [Tommy] said, his name was Dr. Frankenbush. I realized

belatedly that this name was a mistake and waited for Carl to notice its
resemblance to the name of the other famous mad master of permutations,
but he only sat there. (lines 425 - 442) Tommy came up with an improvised
riposte in order to proselytize Carl into abstract thinking and novel ideas. If
Tommy didnt like Miss Ferenczis thoughts why would he try to justify to Carl
that Miss Ferenczis thinking is echt and veritable. Another piece of evidence
that led me to inferring that Tommy likes Miss Ferenczis abstract thinking
and novel ideas is when [Tommy] ran into the living room, pulled out a
dictionary next to the TV stand, and opened it to the Gs. After five minutes I
found it. Gryphon: variant of griffin. Griffin: a fabulous beast with the head
and wings of and eagle and the body of a lion.(lines 488- 493) Tommy
cares for Miss Ferenczi and her abstract thinking and novel ideas as he was
piqued by the curio of whether Miss Ferenczi ideas had verisimilitude. When
he saw the definition of a gryphon in the dictionary he shouted with
triumph. (line 493) Tommy was rhapsodic when finding out that Miss
Ferenczis abstract thinking and novel ideas were in fact true. Rhapsody is
usually a sign of pleasure and Yes! It is true!ness. Tommy caring for Mrs.
Ferenczi and her abstract thinking and novel ideas is proved when he is
overwhelmed by euphoria at finding that gryphons were a real thing.
When Tommy defends Miss Ferenczi we learn that if something Tommy
likes is taken from him his lividness can lead to some unpleasant
circumstances. When Wayne goes to the principal and slanders Miss
Ferenczi, Miss Ferenczi ends up being discharged. Tommy likes Miss Ferenczi
([Tommy] had liked [Miss Ferenczi] (line 413).) and so when she is
discharged from her duties as a vicar teacher Tommy is livid. He calls Wayne
a recreant and continues to do so until Wayne has reached the zenith of
indignation and lands two hard punches on Tommys nose. Tommy fights
back and fervently says how Miss Ferenczi was always right and how Wayne
was always just a scardey-cat until Mr. Faegre, the principal, comes to the
scene. (paraphrase of lines 795-810)

Tommy and Miss Ferenczi are transmundane people. We can infer that
Miss Ferenczi is transmundane and possesses occult powers because of
soupcons in the things that Miss Ferenczi talks about. In some places
around the world, she said, men and women still live in the tress and eat
monkeys for breakfast. Their doctors are magicians (lines 524-526) I took
the phrase, the world, to mean the whole cosmos or perhaps other
universes themselves. A black hole sucks in everything around it. Because
of the law of the conservation of matter no matter can be destroyed or
created. The black hole leads to a wormhole which empties out into a white
hole. As this process continues the more and more matter enters a white
hole. This matter forms a whole other universe. The gravity of a black hole
will indubitably combust the person who enters it, unless that person
possesses supernatural powers. However, if Miss Ferenczi does possess
supernatural powers then going through black holes and into other universes
wouldnt pose a problem for her. Other pieces of evidence that go to show
that Miss Ferenczi possesses supernatural powers are: 1. She said that an
old man in Egypt who worked for a circus had personally shown her an
animal in a cage, a monster, half bird and half lion (lines 391-393). 2.
Venus, which most people think is the next closest planet to the sun, is not
always closer, and besides, it is the planet of greatest mystery because of its
thick cloud cover. I know what lies underneath those clouds, Miss Ferenczi
said, and waited. After the silence, she said, Angels. Angels live under those
clouds. She said that angels were not visible to everyone and were in fact
smarter than most people. (lines 540- 548) Both of these transmundane
soupcons in the text go to show how Miss Ferenczi has supernatural powers.
For Evidence 1 I can pragmatically guarantee that gryphons dont really
exist on Earth. The only way Miss Ferenczi could have seen a gryphon is if
she had journeyed to another universe. Based on scientific studies and
pragmatism angels most certainly do not exist and Venus is of course not the
closest planet to the Sun. This of course, is only possible in another
universe. Ergo, Miss Ferenczi is transmundane. We can infer that Tommy is

transmundane. Tommy is the only one who believes Miss Ferenczi; We were
on the school bus home. I was sitting next to Carl Whiteside, who had bad
breath and a huge collection of marbles. We were arguing. Carl thought
[Miss Ferenczi] was lying. I said she wasnt (lines 405-408); and so we
can infer that he too his transmundane. No one else in Tommys class thinks
that Miss Ferenczis statements have any verisimilitude. Carl Whiteside is
one such example. (See aforementioned quote on lines 405-408 during first
bus ride home) On lines 608-610 it says I knew every barn every barn,
every broken windmill, every fence, every anhydrous ammonia tank, by
heart. Theres a tree thats...that Ive seen... In these three lines of text I
thought that Tommy was attempting to postulate over something he had
seen in a multi-verse in a previous life. This is perfectly reasonable
considering that Tommy is transmundane. Tommy may just be too young to
have fully developed the transmundane abilities of Miss Ferenczi and
perhaps when he grows up may be able to be a fluent abstract thinker/multiverser, and travel through wormholes and black holes and white holes.
(There is no word in the dictionary that means a person who postulates
about reminiscences of a multi-verse he has been to, so, I made one up.
Drawing this inference ended up leading to another inference: that when
Tommy defended Miss Ferenczi he was hit with the revelation that he and
Miss Ferenczi had some inexplicable, transmundane correlation between
them. I inferred this because when Tommy defends Miss Ferenczi he
becomes more and more fervent and livid. You told, I shouted at him. She
was just kidding.She scared you, I said. Youre a chicken, Youre a
chicken, Wayne. You are. Scared of a little card, I singsonged (lines 795801). This of course led to the corollary of violence, mangling and maiming,
and some mild execration from Tommy. (paraphrase of lines 802-810) This
aggrandizement of vehemence signifies that Tommy has been hit with a
revelation that he and Miss Ferenczi were both transmundane. This causes
him to realize the true weight of Miss Ferenczis absence and becomes
naturally more livid.

Throughout the course of Gryphon we learn that Tommy likes thinking

abstractly, is transmundane, and doesnt like things that he likes taken away
from him.