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Page 23 text:
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Finally, a word must be said about Mr. Satter- thwaite ' s intellectual position, about the commit- ments which drew him into literary scholarship as a profession. As has been suggested above, he sees literature almost entirely in terms of the light it casts on immediate human experience ; the work he really enjoys, as distinguished from his formal academic obligations, is the analysis of works with strong psychological and moral significance, as, for instance, Donne ' s poems, or THE BROTH- ERS KARAMAZOV. As a Harvard Comparative Literature Ph.D., Mr. Satterthwaite is greatly concerned with par- allels in theme and event between works of various ages and cultures. However, his search for echoes is not merely that of a connoisseur, but rather reflects a concern for historicity, for both con- tinuity and change in the literary treatment of certain central experiences in Western culture. In dealing with particular works, he is more con- cerned with the psychology of plot situations than with overall symbolic and structural pat- terns. Unlike certain critics with less rigorous analytical minds, however, he sees this as a weak- ness in his own approach, and, far from resenting attempts to systematize ' a work, he is very receptive to structural interpretations. In his con- cept of criticism as a discipline, he is intensely concerned with style: he tends to value precision of formulation even above originality of thought. In line with his concern with literature as directly relevant to life, he is unsympathetic to works which are more concerned with recreating the texture of experience than with commenting on it: hence, at times, his seemingly irrational hostility toward Twentieth Century literature. Alfred Satterthwaite finds Haverford ' s size and atmosphere particularly congenial to his approach to teaching. And, conversely, the maintenance of Haverford ' s superiority as a small liberal-arts col- l ege demands the special capabilities of such a professor as Mr. Satterthwaite, however unpopu- lar his approach may be with many of the students who encounter him. Richard Wertime Alan Williamson 19
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Page 22 text:
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' Now really, Mr. , that ' s an extraordinary statement, isn ' t it? So begins the typical Satterthwaitean parry, which makes many s+udents enemies at first sight, while it leaves others with the impression of having encountered the paradigm of an intellectual rigor all too rare amid the emotional and intuitive flabbiness of the humanities at Haverford. In the classroom, Alfred Satterthwaite does not suffer fools gladly. His approach is that of a fastidious and even sarcastic intellectual aristocrat. If his sarcasm often clears the air for more coruscating discussion and provokes the student to greater precision of thought and expression, it can also have the deleterious effect of stifling the groping or ina ' -ticulate sudent who might have valuable contributions to make. Mr. Satterthwaite ' s talents, indeed, are far more suited to the small seminar than to the large class, where his contempt may lead him to squander class time on moralistic digressions and irrelevant anecdotes. In the seminar, however, not only his keen analytic mind but also his peculiar gifts for precise formulation and catalysis come into play, stimulated by the opportunity for direct and extensive intellectual battle with the individual student. To be perfectly frank, however, Mr. Satterthwaite is a truly great teacher, if at all, only in a limited, but perhaps all too rare, sense. For him, the real teaching takes place outside the classroom. He tends to choose his small circle of student friends from among the academically and creatively talented ; and al- though this coterie is limited, he spends virtually unlimited time and energy on its members, and treats them on nearly the same basis as his friends and colleagues. The kind of friendship Mr. Satterthwaite extends to his student acquaintances is one of the most valu- able experiences made peculiarly possible by Haverford ' s small size. For those who have belonged to his circle, the many evenings spent in the Satterthwaite study have been as rewarding an element in the educational experience of Haverford as anything in the strictly academic program. The atmosphere CHEZ Satterthwaite, the all-pervasive odor of woodsmoke and sherry, the serenity which is an almost artistic projection of an imperfect but resilient agnostic truce in cognizance of chaos, has become for these students an anchor-point in the frequently confusing intellectual and human flux they encounter, particularly in their first two years here. This is largely the result of Mr. Satterthwaite ' s belief that informal contact with students affords him the opportunity to influence the growth of the individual student as an entire human being as well as an intellect. It is quite clear that Mr. Satterthwaite envisions this as a kind of educaional experience for himself as well, both on a strictly intellectual and on a personal level. It is, for him, a means of keeping his mind open and constantly re-examining his own opinions and convictions. He respects even intellectual positions which diverge violentjy from his own, so long as they are intelligently supported. This does not mean that he lacks strong commitments of his own. Indeed, his very desire to involve himself personally with student friends springs from moral convictions concerning his role as a teacher. Although he does not assume intellectual superiority ovei his proteges, he feels that his wider experience with human problems enables him to give the student an objective, yet highly sensitive, perspective on him- self which the student, in his youthful subjectivity, can seldom attain by himself. He never shies away from the self-imposed responsibility of helping the student as best he can. even with the most delicate or dangerous personal problems. His personal life, both as agent and as advisor, is intimately bound up with his critical study of human situations analyzed in literature, to a degree rare in academicians. Yet for all the shrewdness of his psychological insight, his moral position tends to be conservative, sometimes even to the point of puritanism; it is never, however, based on uncriticized prejudice, but is rather rationally de- duced from a keen sense of the responsibility of all for all. It would be unfair to stress only the intellectual nature of Mr. Satterthwaite ' s personal involvement with students. His willingness to devote himself, with deeply felt concern, to their problems and to their individual growth, is the product of an innate generosity which quite transcends even his own rigorous sense of moral responsibility. Those who know him for any length of time become increasingly aware of the spontaneity with which he assumes what others might see as burdens on the privacy of his family life. And, for all the theoretical rigor of his moral position, it is consistently tempered by charitable for- giveness toward the shortcomings of others. 18
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