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| “ | You hear that, Sid? There's a man in the woods. | „ |
| ~ The Teacher speaks his last words to Sid during the ending of the poem.
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The Teacher is the unnamed main protagonist and titular character of the poem and 2014 animated short film There's a Man in the Woods.
He was voiced by Michael Ho.
Description[]
The Teacher was formerly a nice man before he got fired. Afterwards, he did drugs and his sanity slipped, putting him in danger of becoming a psychopath, although how his revenge would have played out is unknown.
The Teacher is often shown wearing clothes stereotypical of a homeless man, including a brown coat and yellow top and jeans.
Personality[]
The teacher spent most of his life teaching children at Ash Valley Elementary, where he proved himself to be a compassionate, generous, and normal man. He was an excellent teacher to the children, always trying to educate them, and cared about them, demonstrating a sense of protectiveness that few teachers possess.
To him, his students were like family. He lived alone, but since the school and the students were his family, he didn't feel lonely, as far as anyone knows. When Sid's lie spread, the teacher tried to contain the damage, initially feeling anxious, then anger, paranoia, and finally acceptance when he was recently unfairly fired from the school because, according to his parents, he was a terrible influence. When he realized that he would never be accepted into any school again due to his ruined reputation, his anger completely overcame him.
Shadow self[]
Everyone has an evil side to their personality, defined by many psychologists as the shadow (ego-dystonic complex, repressed id, shadow aspect, or shadow archetype). This side of our mind allows completely normal people to commit atrocious acts, whether by choices made by others (perhaps authority figures) or by ourselves. In this case, the teacher, after a long period of depression, alcoholism, and drug use, his psychological breakdown caused him to descend into the dark side of his psyche.
A side that led him to make drastic decisions solely out of anger and a desire for revenge against the creator of the lie that ruined their lives, Sid. After presumably preparing and arming himself, demonstrating intelligence and planning, he headed into the woods near the school and committed a heinous act. This "Teacher" was no longer the same as before, he was now only a shadow of his former self, his evil and vengeful side, after having fallen into tragedy and probably after feeling betrayed and mistreated by everyone, he is ready to do anything, even kill children just to feel better, he no longer has moral limits or empathy, he lost everything or it surprised him out of revenge, ultimately becoming the opposite of what he was at the beginning, from a kind man to a monster.
Biography[]
The teacher was formerly a teacher over a group of young children. Before his tragic fall from grace, the teacher valued his students dearly, even Sid to a degree and he would also allow them to collect honeysuckles to eat at recess.
This would all change when Sid began to spread lies about there being a serial killer in the woods by the school. While he knew about Sid's lies, the teacher convinces himself that the rumors would die down and normalcy would return. Unfortunately, word about the allegations began to spread throughout the town, leading to many parents and moral guardians to criticize the school for not taking any action. The teacher is blamed for his inactivity, and he was fired. The teacher tried to find work at other schools, only to be rejected due to his ruined reputation.
The teacher's life slowly became a wreck with him resorting to drinking heavily and snorting cocaine among other hard drugs. Becoming wrought with vengeance towards his former student Sid, the teacher became the eponymous "Man in the Woods" by waiting for Sid to be alone, and he reaches into his trench coat to grab an unknown object tucked away inside.
The video abruptly ends with no indication of whether the teacher truly did kill Sid or if it was a murder-suicide scenario. He was also most likely taken to prison in the events that he did murder his former student. Darker theories suggest that Sid may as well have been just the first of his many victims with him going onto kill the other students in his class, or the parents of the children who were indirectly responsible for his firing, although this is unlikely as he was mainly angry at Sid.
A more positive interpretation is that the gun was a bluff, and he simply wanted to give Sid a scare..
Quotes[]
| “ | Now who’s in control of your classes?! Single file lines? Single file lines, little vile swine, a killer by the pines, really? Are you blind?! Will you find your spine?! Sid a child decides to fill our minds with lies and the next thing you see is people treating ME Like I’m committing CRIMES! I WAS IN MY RIGHT Those kids WHERE LUCKY TO HAVE ME, do you see what you did? but i can play along...Do you hear that Sid? | „ |
Gallery[]
