"The School" by Donald Barthelme

The School by Donald Barthelme is a great example of blending short story narrative along with flash fiction to give the reader a great image alongside great ideas. I love how the themes of death and loss are played throughout and how bluntly put these themes are written.

Lines such as "We weren't even supposed to have a puppy."
"We weren't even supposed to have one..."
really drive the point home, all the while keeping a dark, humorous tone. I especially like how the reader is put into this situation of being in a deadly school, where nothing seems to live long and there is tragedy around every corner.
This could be a metaphor for how fragile life is and how the years spent in grade school can actually be fairly tragic, despite there being actual death.

The tone to this story is dark and humorous, yet it's written in a very intelligent voice to keep the actions within the story from seeming too silly or amateur.

My only criticism is the end of the piece where the children challange the teacher and assistant to make love. I understand how this could be fitting to the rest of the pice, considering the theme is tragedy and this could be referring to sex and orgasm as being "beautifully tragic," and at times, a loss. However, I wanted more from this idea to confirm my thoughts of this being a metaphoric device for the reader.