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Chapter 13
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Stoner, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Disappointment and Beauty
Passivity and Regret
Loneliness, Isolation, and Human Connection
Love and Marriage
The Value of Literary Study
Summary
Analysis
During the summer following his breakup with Katherine, Stoner falls ill and takes some time to recuperate. More than ever, he is feeling his age and, to make matters worse, his depression is back. While Stoner suffers from mental depression, The Great Depression is destroying the nation. Stoner frequently observes men his age crumbling under the weight of the extreme pressures of the Depression. The world outside the university becomes even more frightening in 1936 when World War II erupts. Stoner fears that many young American men, including those attending his university, will leave school to go fight in the war.
For the first time, Stoner starts thinking more about how the outside world affects the University of Missouri. Perhaps he focuses his energy on world events because he no longer has Katherine and needs to put his attention elsewhere. Either way, Stoner sees history repeating itself, and he knows some of his students who leave to fight in the war will not come back, much like Masters. At the moment, Stoner seems to be following the path of his mentor, Archer Sloane.
Themes
As Stoner starts yet another semester of freshmen composition, he decides to take a stand against Lomax. He tells his students to ignore their assigned text and informs them that they will need to acquire a few books on medieval literature. Then, Stoner begins teaching a modified version of his graduate seminar in medieval literature, which he alters to partially fit the goals of a freshman composition course. As Stoner lectures, he sees a lot of confused looks and some of his students gaze at him with their mouths wide open. Still, he soldiers on, knowing that he will soon be hearing from other members of the department.
Having lost nearly everything he holds dear, Stoner finally decides to get back at Lomax or, at the very least, reclaim part of his life. Of course, the material Stoner is teaching his freshman in no way resembles the syllabus the department—whose figurehead is Lomax—provides. By teaching the course like his graduate seminar, Stoner finds a way to return to his area of interest without doing anything Lomax can punish him for.
Themes
Sure enough, Stoner is summoned to a meeting with Professor Ehrhardt, who oversees the freshman English program. Ehrhardt is new to the department and a bit of a pushover, but he does not matter to Stoner anyway. In reality, Stoner’s problem is with Lomax, and he asks that Lomax be present for the meeting as well. However, when Stoner shows up, Lomax is nowhere to be found.
Whether Stoner actually wants to speak with Lomax is unclear. He may be using the fact that Lomax will not face him to his advantage. He knows Professor Ehrhardt has no real authority on how he teaches his course, so the meeting is simply an opportunity for Stoner to make his point, which he knows will get back to Lomax.
Themes
During the meeting, Ehrhardt is amiable. He requests that Stoner revert to teaching the required texts of the freshman program. Stoner tells Ehrhardt that he is experimenting with new methods, something that the department has been encouraging. Both Ehrhardt and Stoner know Lomax will not be pleased with Stoner’s response, which is what Stoner is hoping for. Stoner also tells Ehrhardt to let Lomax know that he will continue experimenting the following semester.
Again, Stoner is framing his experiment as something that will improve the department rather than hurt it. Although he derives some joy from the thought of angering Lomax, Stoner is not simply being petty. Rather, he is genuinely happy that has reclaimed a part of his life that he thought was lost to him.
Themes
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When Lomax learns of Stoner’s behavior, he lodges a complaint with Finch. Finch chuckles at Stoner’s clever scheme and reminds Lomax that neither of them can intervene in the teaching approach of a tenured professor. As such, Stoner emerges victorious, and the following semester, he is reassigned to teach his favorite graduate courses.
For much the novel, Stoner is a passive figure, often passing up opportunities and living to regret them. However, in this instance, he finally has a triumph without any negative consequences attached. Lomax hates him for the scheme, but Lomax has hated him for a long time anyway.
Themes
