Frequently Asked Questions about "Gryphon" Answered!

Charles Baxter is often asked questions about his short story "Gryphon". In order to help students everywhere better understand his story Charles answered some of the most common questions for this site. Question: What does the title of the story mean? The gryphon doesn't seem very important-- what does the idea of a gryphon bring to the story? Baxter: Ms. Ferenczi mentions the gryphon as an animal she's actually seen in Egypt. A gryphon, however, …

…end there? Baxter: Because of Ms. Ferenczi's influence, every fact from the world starts to take on an element of strangeness--even the most ordinary facts, like the ones the story concludes with, about insects. The story ends with the line that Mr. Hibler will return to "test us on our knowledge"--but of course the story starts to raise questions about what the children actually do know, once Ms. Ferenczi has gotten through with them.