The Idiot

The second chapter follows Selin throughout her second semester at Harvard. She becomes even more interested in how language works and what it means, so she takes several classes related to linguistics.

She is asked to help with the ESL program and is assigned an older Hispanic man who has come to the US to get eye surgery. The man seems to understand Selin, but is unable to answer in English. All Selin’s efforts result in some strange pidgin version of English that only she and the man can understand. Eventually, the man gets surgery and no longer needs ESL classes. Selin feels depressed about her failure as a teacher.

Selin’s next student is an older Black woman whose teenage son has died recently. She wants to continue with her education, but has a very difficult time understanding abstract concepts. She is confused by the terms her math teacher uses. Selin is able to help the woman with varying degrees of success.

Selin’s correspondence with Ivan becomes progressively more random and philosophical. She feels that nothing makes sense any longer and tries talking to a school psychologist. The counselor is highly suspicious of the Internet and cautions Selin that it is impossible to know if the person she is corresponding with is really Ivan or someone else, such as a criminal.