Wrote this up during physics after an inspiring spesh lesson earlier this year, its not a great piece or anything, but I thought AN might enjoy it
Its probably a different spin on what is "real" that you haven't seen before too, I've also used the prompt as a pun
Based on Tennesse William's
A Streetcar Named Desire, enjoy
“No two approaches to reality are ever identical”
“We denote the square root of negative one by the letter ‘i’. Now, in arithmetic, we call this number an imaginary number as it does not fit into the realm of the real, and therefore, we are introduced to a new set of numbers, the set of the complex and imaginary. It is elementary that none of you confuse these imaginary numbers with the real numbers that we have previously been working with. It is also essential that you know that despite being called imaginary, these numbers are, to me and your examiners, very much real...”
“And so it was I entered the broken world...”
“Blanche! Blanche DuBious!” Blanche looks up in shock. “Blanche, this is arithmetic, not some ‘broken world’! Focus and stop reciting poems to your sister! Or I’ll have to ask you and Stella to take yet another trip to the Headmaster. And you know how much he likes the two of you...”
“Sorry sir, it’s just that I don’t understand anything of what you are saying. In fact, I don’t even know my multiplication tables!” She looks sheepishly at Stella, who in turn, turns away in dismay.
“Yes Blanche, I know. That is the reason you are four years behind the rest of the students your age, you are in the same class as your sister for gods-sake! If that’s not embarrassing enough, then I don’t know what is... Actually, Belle Reve is in a bad pretty bad shape at the moment...” Blanche jumps from her seat in anger.
“How dare you mention Belle Reve, you... You... You Polack! You don’t understand anything!” Her carefully powdered face contorts in rage as she glares at the arithmetic teacher, Mr Kowalski.
“Polack, huh? Tell that to your sister, who talks for hours on end to my Polish nephew in New Orleans. I wonder when they will be getting married, it can only be a matter of time.” He laughs aloud, “And as for Belle Reve, I think I’m justified in saying that I know more than you about the reality of the goings on there, the reality that you so adamantly deny. It’s now a famous story in Laurel.” He continues to chuckle as tears run down Blanche’s face. She turns to Stella, only to find her staring blankly through the window into the distance, seemingly ignorant of Blanche’s situation. “You know what you need Blanche? You’re missing some literature in that bookish mind of yours. Read up on a guy named Huey Long, he’ll tell you where your place is in the real world. I’m the man in this room, and according to him, I’m the King. And Blanche DuBious, that’s how I like it. I don’t need disobedient, rich girls like you coming to class, being disruptive, and insulting me and my subject.”
“Sir...” Blanche begins. Mr Kowalski snorts and points to the door.
“Blanche, you’re wasting my time, you’re wasting your sister’s time, and you’re wasting your own time. You’d be better off working in some hotel or something and help pay off Belle Reve’s debts.” He laughs cruelly as he turns back to his blackboard that he has covered in arithmetic reals and imaginaries.
Blanche remains standing at her seat, trembling and weeping softly. “Did you not hear Ms DuBious, I have asked you to leave. If you cannot even understand the real...”
“I don’t want realism!” Blanche cries. Mr Kowalski slowly turns towards her trembling figure.
“What do you want then Blanche? Arithmetic is either real, imaginary, or both. If you don’t even understand, or want to understand, the real number system, which is of course, the most basic of number sets, then what do you want? You don’t accept the goings on of Belle Reve, you don’t accept your sister’s relationship with my ‘Polack’ nephew, you don’t accept real arithmetic... What is it you are actually willing to accept as real? What is it that you actually desire?”
“I’ll tell you what I want, I want magic!” She cries as she runs out of the room, Stella, remaining at her seat, dazedly looks from the window to see her sister leave.
“Magic!” He scoffs, “Ha! This is arithmetic, and it’s as close to magic as she will ever be. Will you be leaving too Stella?” She slowly shakes her head. “Good, life has got to go on. No matter what happens with your sister, you’ve got to keep on going, and persist with arithmetic.” She nods weakly. “Your sister seems to have some severe difficulties with real numbers, let alone imaginary ones. Inform your folks that she will not be attending my classes ever again. I’ll let her... What’s the right word... I’ll let her escape. But one day, she’ll realise that literature will only lead to running away from the real. Ha! Arithmetic is the only pure, direct and flawless subject! Real numbers are my reality, they are our reality in this class, and they are as real as anything can ever get! I can understand, to an extent, her motive to hide from the goings in Belle Reve, or of your relationship... But I cannot understand why she won’t accept, or even try to accept, the arithmetic real numbers, which are of course, indisputably real.”
He sighs and shakes his head: “Maybe now she’ll do something productive, maybe for her Belle Reve? Without arithmetic, that’s her reality now. Yes, no matter how much she tries to deny it, Belle Reve is her reality now...” He turns away, sniggering to himself. Stella burries her head within her arms and begins to cry, still sitting in her seat.
As Mr Kowalski resumes his lesson, Blanche can be seen and heard from the outside a short-time later, clutching a half-empty bottle of liquor, giddily singing: “I never feel a thing is real...”
Rohitpi
Feel free to critique and mark, be as harsh as you want
edit: mods, feel free to move this if it doesn't belong here
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