Describe thurbers meeting with general Littlefield
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Answer:
Because Thurber cannot perform his military duties well, General Littlefield considers him – or people like him – “the main trouble with this university.” Thurber seems to imply that the general’s priorities are misplaced: a university should not, ideally, be a place obsessed with military training (especially mere marching) but a place in which real intellectual learning takes place. Failure in genuine learning might be considered a genuine source of trouble at a university; failure in performing military drills seems minor in comparison.
When Thurber eventually becomes the best performer at military drill (simply because he continually fails it, year after year, and thus has eventually much more experience at it than younger students), the general suddenly admires him, thus completely reversing his earlier opinion. Thurber is even promoted to corporal. He is therefore rewarded for an achievement which, in the context of a university supposedly dedicated to higher education, is not much of an achievement at all.
When Thurber is summoned to the general’s office, presumably to be congratulated for his achievement, the general can’t seem to remember who Thurber is or why he was summoned. Thurber thus seems to imply that the general is not especially bright (or at least that his memory is not good). Perhaps Thurber is suggesting that the general is not especially well qualified to have an important position at an American university, although Thurber also seems to suggest that the general’s position is not really very important to begin with.