Best of the Best

St. Andrew's Day, held on November 30, is Scotland's national day. Many will recall Scottish independence, which almost happened a few months ago. There are other things that come to mind during this time of the year. It will be rather odd to talk about books, except for certain titles. How about Muriel Spark?

"The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1961) is considered Spark's masterpiece. It revealed a lot of details about the author. She experienced hardship, which led to a breakdown at one point. But it inspired her to write. Just look at the characters. It also tell something about Scotland.

In my prime

Many believe Scotland is always at war.

Jean Brodie admired the fascists, who turned the lives of Italians and Spaniards upside down. She had an unconventional approach to teaching. She was a spinster who still believed she was in her prime. The beginning of the novel saw Miss Brodie losing her teaching post, unaware that one of her students betrayed her. The succeeding chapters revealed what happened in school.

“The word 'education' comes from the root e from ex, out, and duco, I lead. It means a leading out. To me education is a leading out of what is already there in the pupil's soul.”

The 1930s was an exciting time to live in, but not in Edinburgh. Jean Brodie wanted her students to be the best of the best; she was passionate about the arts, and she tried to install it in her pre-teenage students by going to the art museum with them. She thought she was perceptive of a student's ability, selective on whom she would share her knowledge. The chosen ones would become the "crème de la crème". The aim was to have older heads in those young shoulders, but something went wrong.

Was Jean Brodie a delusional woman? Did she tried to be too romantic? Was she a bad role model to her students?

Jean Brodie didn't have any delusion at all. In fact, she only wanted the best for her students. However, she underestimated the impact of the events in the continent. (Joyce Emily Hammond, one of those students, was carried away by the ideals of the Nationalists, a rebel group led by General Francisco Franco. So she joined the Spanish Civil War, only to die in vain. Blame it on her naïveté.) On the other hand, Miss Brodie was guilty of not noticing how her actions would be perceived by younger minds. She was desperately clinging to her fading youth, trying too hard to be romantic. She may not be better than her pupils.

Take note that Miss Brodie's attitudes reflected the doctrines of Calvinism. The effect would be similar to what Spark experienced later in life. (She converted to Roman Catholicism, which would affect her writing style and relationship with Robin, her son.) Some would wonder if this would allude to Scotland, which was independent during the Middle Age. Perhaps. Let's not get too far. This was about Muriel Spark, in her prime.