George Cavaliere is a brilliant history teacher at a Chicago public high school. Some might consider him to be cantankerous and irreverent.
He also doesn’t subscribe to the “Great Men Theory” of history. Instead, he believes that events shape people, not the other way around. The theory, a 19th century notion that’s still debated today, subscribes to the idea that influential men, and surely women, shape historical events. But Cavaliere’s life, with all its flaws and attributes, seems to bring merit to the theory, perhaps to his own dismay.
George Cavaliere, however, is not a real person. He’s a fictional character in a new book by Daniel Greenstone, an Oak Parker and history teacher at Oak Park and River Forest High School.
It is Greenstone’s first published novel, though he’s written essays, columns, and also has a manuscript written years ago that, he says, might never be ready for publication. His new book, “A Theory of Great Men,” hit bookshelves in May and he’s been on a modest book tour. In September, he’ll be reading excerpts from the book at the Oak Park Public Library on Lake Street.
The Hyde Park native stressed that the book is a work of fiction, though he looked to make it authentic to real world situations. Its roots come from Greenstone’s time as a teacher.
There’s always been discussion in education about how a student’s background can influence their time in school, Greenstone says, in particular when “educational gaps” come up. Greenstone, who’s taught at OPRF since 1996, has been intrigued by that topic and turned it into a focus for the book.
“The fundamental question in education these days is how can we get past the point where students’ demographic background is their destiny. We want all students to learn regardless if they’re from a poor family or live in a crime-ridden area. And we come to expect that that’s going to be the case,” Greenstone said. “The No Child Left Behind law actually requires that by 2014, 100 percent of students will pass rigorous state tests, which, in its way, is a pretty utopian idea about how we can overcome our circumstances.”
But Greenstone mentioned a less-utopian view held by some—that kids from rough backgrounds and families are destined for failure.
“I think that those are two kind of extreme views but there’s a really interesting world in between,” he said. “And that interesting world is recognizing that it’s going to be harder for some kids from certain backgrounds, but it doesn’t mean that it’s hopeless.”
In the book, Cavaliere believes that background and events equals destiny, but ends up causing certain actions in his life by his own hand and behavior. Greenstone chose the character’s last name because it does sound like cavalier, though it’s actually pronounced CA-VA-LEER-REE. Greenstone describes his character as both self-destructive and likeable.
The book also takes a different spin on what Greenstone describes as the “teacher as hero” story, with books, TV shows and such films as Stand and Deliver (1988) and Dangerous Minds (1995) following that trend.
“I find those stories a little saccharine and sweet, and frankly, not that realistic based on what I’ve seen in education. So I wanted to go into that more realistic space where you can do some good but it’s not easy.”
