A classic example that illustrates their divergent approach to teaching is their method of teaching students to write a simple sentence: While Grant ridicules and humiliates his student who can't write her simple sentence in a straight line, Vivian encourages her students, who are learning to write simple sentences in French. By teaching her students French, Vivian is embracing her Creole heritage. By helping her students transcend their cultural boundaries by learning a foreign language, she is also teaching them to transcend their geographic boundaries and their perceived personal limits. As she points out to Grant, "We're teachers and we have a commitment."
Note that Vivian is a graduate of Xavier University, a Catholic university in Lafayette, Louisiana. She has learned that the illusion of status and class is empty and meaningless. She has been disowned by her family for marrying a dark-skinned man, who eventually deserts her and her children. But Vivian is not bitter and disillusioned. Instead, she has learned to cope with her problems and move on, unlike Matthew, who allows others — and ultimately his own self-hatred — to destroy him.
Ultimately, Vivian has a greater influence on Grant than does Matthew. While Matthew appealed to Grant's baser instincts, Vivian brings out the best in him. She gives him love and support, whereas Matthew was so blinded by his hatred that he could not see beyond it in order to help develop his students' better selves.
