When Miss Orville arrived to St. Geoff’s as a substitute teacher for Roger’s class, she made lot of changes that required the students obedience. She was a harsh and strict teacher, that’s why Roger called her ”Miss Awful”. However on Miss Orville’s last day before she leaves Roger’s class, Roger found out that Miss Orville’s point of being harsh and strict was that she wanted to teach them how to be good humans in society, which will help to reduce violence. Roger learned that we shouldn’t judge people before we get to know them.
Roger, the main character of the story, had the best teacher before, Miss Wilson. She used to play with the students during classes and even let the students take some rest. When she gave homework, Roger didn’t even care about it. Once she left for a week to Omaha, the students got a new substitute. She was old, the meanest, and the strictest teacher ever. She came to the classroom with her beloved plant and a lot of work. She was Miss. Orville which students referred to as Miss Awful or the witch. The first day, Miss Orville took Roger’s toys (that he brought to play with his friends,) ripped the papers of students who didn’t do the homework correctly, marched them in and out from the schools, and complained about the students to their parents. “You know, of course, that Roger is a prodigy,…A prodigy of misspelling.” Then she asked Roger to spell flower and castle but he couldn’t. After this embarrassment of Mrs.Clark in between other parents, she and Mr. Clark were surprised to see how Roger took his education seriously and was afraid of her. Another day when parents came to pick up their children Nancy Reeves, Roger’s friend’s Bruce Reeves mother remembered that she knew Miss Orville and said that she was evicted from her apartment and was left homeless with her plants.
Since the students hated her they thought of many horrible ways of getting rid of her like beating her up. One of Roger’s classmate came up with the idea to rip the leaves of her plant. Miss Awful started her last day with what is going on in the world. “If I have been severe with you this past week, it was for your benefit. The world needs good citizens.” Then after when she saw the plant all bare she said “You see…. Violence and destruction… Whoever is responsible, I beg of you only to be sorry.” After the class ended there was no forming lines and some students were silent, or in regret while others were happy. She gave Roger his toys. He now understood how much it meant to be educated and to show how she helped him he spelled the two words she gave him before beautifully and left the room.