On our tour today we saw hidden caves in limestone deposits where secret Catholic schools sessions were held. After seeing those on my tour today I thought about the story Poteen Maker. In it a teacher makes poteen during school hours and disguises it as science experiments. During the tour, our tour guide explained that poteen was made by an elderly woman around that part of town. It was illegal to sell poteen and because it has a very strong alcohol content it most people dilute it with water. One clever, poteen maker decided to sell water to go with the poteen and give the poteen away for free. No law prohibits the sale of water.

When we discussed the Poteen maker I thought of how the new teacher at the end of the story could be a representation of the poteen maker in the past or possibly things coming full circle. One of the things that hold the narrator back from going in the school is nostalgia. He has nostalgia for his old school just the way it had been. Maybe, some part of the narrator does not want his hopes dashed about the new school by venturing in and seeing the changes that have been made. he wants to preserve the memory of the school as he knew it in his mind. That idea ties into place and one molding a place into something meaningful with by the creation of memories and familiarity.

For this character, the condition of the school and the behavior of the teacher is all he knows. He is familiar, he is comfortable, and because of nostalgia, he does not want to disturb the place he has created in his mind.