Killing Mr. Griffin

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1978

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-9

Chapters 10-14

Chapters 15-19

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Symbols & Motifs

Mr. Griffin’s College Ring

Mr. Griffin’s college ring is used a symbol in the latter part of the novel. Dave steals Mr. Griffin’s college ring before burying him, literally prying the ring off cold, dead hands. This is a symbolic violation: Mr. Griffin is not only dead, but his belongings are taken away from him, desecrating his body. The impulse to steal the ring is symbolic of Dave’s poor coping mechanisms with the abandonment of his father. The ring is a symbol that makes Dave feel closer to his father, but it is also a fallacy that the ring brings Dave in proximity to his father. The ring is also used as an object that propels the narrative. By stealing and keeping the ring, Dave makes himself susceptible to being found, which is what leads Mark to murdering Dave’s grandmother for the ring.

Exteriority Versus Interiority

A motif in this novel is exteriority versus interiority. Many characters nurture a juxtaposition between their outer appearance and their inner truth. On the outside, Susan is awkward, unattractive, and nerdy, but these physical qualities belie her intelligence and good moral code. Mark is calm and collected on the outside, but his capacity for violence and dehumanization of others reveals his true self. On the outside, Dave looks like he has everything under control. Behind closed doors, Dave struggles with his family life and the pressure to be upwardly mobile for the sake of his mother. Betsy is cute, popular, and charming, but she is also violent, selfish, and superficial. Mr. Griffin is gruff and strict, but he is also deeply thoughtful about how discipline can prepare his students for the real world. Duncan uses the motif of exteriority versus interiority to highlight the message that people are not always what they seem. This motif also adds to the development of tension throughout the novel.

Ophelia

In Mr. Griffin’s English class, students study the classic play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. The study of Hamlet is thematically fitting for this novel, because in Killing Mr. Griffin and Hamlet, themes of skewed justice, good versus evil, and societal pressure are explored. Ophelia is a character in Hamlet who dies by suicide. In Hamlet, it is implied that Ophelia takes her own life because of the emotional confusion she faces in her relationship with Hamlet, along with the implication of a pregnancy. Ophelia’s internal conflicts reverberate with the internal conflicts of characters like Susan, who struggle with peer pressure and with finding their voice in a world run by men like Mark (or Hamlet). Susan’s last assignment for Mr. Griffin’s class before his death is to write Ophelia’s song. By giving Ophelia a voice and an internal monologue, Susan symbolically gives herself the opportunity to develop autonomy. Ophelia’s death is tragic, just like all of Mark’s victims.