Title: What's the point?
Review: I have fond memories of reading other Robert Nathan books. I can't imagine what he was thinking when he wrote this. Maybe I didn't pick up on his moralistic anti-capitalism before.To some extent, I guess it's simply an example of old-time, small town America stories of romance where people are too morally upright in public.However, the main character is the local teacher who questions his vocation. He's decided book learning isn't making the children happy.Knowing arithmetic simply enables them to cheat and rob, like the local wealthy farmer in the story. Is he happy however? It didn't stop his daughter from being forced by pregnancy to marry her boyfriend.Everything is told in an elliptical, sad and moody way. The overall message seems to be that people should just be happy farmers who can't add and subtract, instead of giving in to the modern world that's going downhill.In the end the teacher is fired, and who can blame the parents for being unhappy with him? Not I?
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