# XII: I Transfer from Princeton to Medicine explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Ring Lardner.

## What happens

After a hockey game fiasco, the narrator avoids being fired from the team due to being one of the only players with skates. He humorously recounts his academic misadventures at Princeton, including a confusing encounter with the Dean about registration and course selection, and his subsequent transfer to the University of Illinois to study medicine, where he completes the course in two months with a perfect exam score.

## Themes in this chapter

### Satire of Media and Business

The narrator's satirical take on academic institutions and the medical profession, mocking the absurdity of the curriculum and examinations.

## Character check-ins

### Mr. Edwards

Big Bill Edwards, also known as 'Hull', breaks up the hockey game by falling into the lake.

### Mr. Grant

Dean Cornwell, who interacts with the narrator about registration and course selection.

## Key lines

> After the Wesleyan game fiasco, there was some talk of firing myself and Big Bill Edwards off the team...

Following the disastrous Wesleyan game, there was discussion of removing me and Big Bill Edwards from the hockey team.

_The narrator humorously recounts the aftermath of a poor game performance._

> The lake was called Lake Carnegie after the library of that name, it being used as a receptacle for the students’ books.

The lake was named Lake Carnegie, after the library, and was used as a place to dump students' books.

_A joke about the lake being a repository for discarded textbooks._

> Once more I had displayed my naivete and the Dean was in hysterics.

Again, I showed my innocence, and the Dean found it hilarious.

_The narrator's misunderstanding of the Dean's question about a course leads to laughter._

> At Illinois, on the other hand, we dissected one of Singer’s Midgets and got through the course in one day, with an hour off for glee club rehearsal.

At Illinois, we dissected a Singer's Midget and finished the anatomy course in a single day, even taking time off for glee club practice.

_A satirical comparison of anatomy courses at different universities._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_62_se/chapters/xii-i-transfer-from-princeton-to-medicine
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_62_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_62_se/chapters