NORMAN MANEA
543
place in the world where this does not seem to be a handicap, where it
does not become a reason for being excluded or frustrated.... "
Such digressions went through the exile's mind as he waited for a stu–
dent
to
comment on the paper he had just read to the class.
THEY WERE SO QUIET, the vast silence was difficult to break. I insisted,
however, that I wanted
to
hear their opinions. I finally received several
brief and cutting criticisms of the troublesome thesis.
I then passed out small slips of paper, asking the students to give the
paper a grade and explain their reasoning. They did not have to sign the
slips, their opinions would remain anonymous.
At the end of class, as the students were heading out the door, the
author approached me with a pale face. I had guiltily watched how she
stood the trial, stoic but also hurt. I apologized for not having asked her
permission to read her paper in public and not warning her of the ref–
erendum.
She did not seem bothered about such formalities. Her discontent
was about something else. "How can they say I'm a fascist? You may
not know, but I'm Jewish!"
No, I did not know and it did not seem very important to me. This is
not what it is all about, I said, this is not about ethnicity or even about
"fascism."
She had indeed ignored the antifascist or anti-Communist meaning of
the play, as well as the numerous historical, not just ideological, conno–
tations. The real question remained, however, whether the reasoning
was sound. That is what I tried to explain
to
the slight and silent young
woman in front of me. I was hesitant
to
tell her that in fascist legionary
Rhinoromania, as well as in the socialist one, her point of view had been
validated by the signature of certain famous thinkers and artists.
BACK HOME, I STARTED looking at the students' slips of paper. Despite
the harsh criticism expressed in class, the grades given to the paper were
good, even very good: B+, A, A-, B.
The comments were also worth paying attention to.
Well-written, provocative, well-defended, and plausible-if it weren't for the
mindless uniformity of the rhinoceroses. This poses the problem of "good"
