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The final and shortest section of the novel, “The Professor”, does not serve so much as a contrast between the other two, but as a progression from them. It is in this section that The Professor has his near death experience that leads to his decision to bravely face the future. His life is saved by an old and reliable friend who may remind him that the old and reliable values still exist. After he is saved, The Professor subconsciously realizes he needs to stop holding on to Tom, and the past along with him. The Professor had failed to move on after Tom’s death, which was most blatantly exhibited in his refusal to move out of his old study. This section, and the novel, concludes with The Professors revelation that he needs to progress forward. “His temporary release from consciousness seemed to have been beneficial. He had let something go—and it was gone; something very precious, that he could not consciously have relinquished, probably” (258). The Professor’s future is ambiguous in the same way that future American societal values are ambiguous. This was true before, but now The Professor is returning to optimism and allowing himself to progress into his future along with his family. “He thought he knew where he was, and that he could face with fortitude…the future”.
Through all of this, “The Professor’s House” is a story of love. It includes love of nature, love of country, love of family, and love of self. It tells us that love is enduring and malleable and sustaining. It also tells us that when we are living in the present, we have a tendency to romanticize the past. We romanticize America’s past settling of the frontier as The Professor romanticizes his relationship with Tom and his past relationships with is family. If we allow it to, this romanticism can give us optimism for the future. The Professor realizes, “He had had two romances: one of the heart, which had filled his life for many years, and a second of the mind—of the imagination. Just when the morning brightness of the world was wearing off for him, along came Outland and brought him a kind of second youth”.
Through all of this, “The Professor’s House” is a story of love. It includes love of nature, love of country, love of family, and love of self. It tells us that love is enduring and malleable and sustaining. It also tells us that when we are living in the present, we have a tendency to romanticize the past. We romanticize America’s past settling of the frontier as The Professor romanticizes his relationship with Tom and his past relationships with is family. If we allow it to, this romanticism can give us optimism for the future. The Professor realizes, “He had had two romances: one of the heart, which had filled his life for many years, and a second of the mind—of the imagination. Just when the morning brightness of the world was wearing off for him, along came Outland and brought him a kind of second youth”.
