The Lesson

“I just asked the way. Everybody knows you around here.” 

Even before arriving, the student is reassured of the professor’s credibility and trustworthiness by his many neighbors who know him after 30 years living in the town. Entering a stranger’s house is always precarious, but an established and respected professor suggests safety. Absurdly, no one has noticed that 39 girls have gone missing after visiting his home, especially considering that many of them probably had attentive parents like the student.

“We can’t be sure of anything, young lady, in this world.”

The professor casually undermines the notion of truth in response to the student’s assertion that snow does not fall in the summer. This statement, which does not seem to reach the student, foreshadows the way the professor will deconstruct truth altogether.

“PUPIL: Yes, indeed, Professor, I am at your disposal.

PROFESSOR: At my disposal? [A gleam comes into his eyes and is quickly extinguished; he begins to make a gesture that he suppresses at once.] Oh, miss, it is I who am at your disposal. I am only your humble servant.”

The pupil’s word choice is strikingly odd, and it foreshadows what will eventually become of her. If she is at his disposal, he may dispose of her, which is contrary to teaching. There are sexual undertones of this exchange, as evidenced by his brief lewd gleam. It is also a gambit in terms of power. Each defers power to the other, marking this as the start of their power struggle.