When Daru, a French schoolteacher, is forced to take in an Arab accused of murder, his mind suffers from paranoiac delusions. Daru's doubts about the mental soundness of the Arab leave him feeling abnormally isolated and persecuted by unknown enemies. In "The Teacher" by Arnold Shiller, paranoia forms a self-imposed isolation and creates mental instability.
Living in an isolated region of a French colony, possibly Algeria, Daru does not feel alone. As a schoolteacher, his current state of solitude is created by a snowstorm, a force of nature he cannot control. Daru is aware of the people suffering from the snowstorm, such as his students, and constantly mulls over their situation to entertain himself. Though Daru lives in a remote schoolhouse, this harsh region is home to him because "Everywhere else, he felt exiled" (54). Though physically removed from people, Daru is mentally close and awaiting their return after the snowstorm ends. He cannot be isolated because humanity still......
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