In the Class 9 English story 'The Fun They Had' by Isaac Asimov, 11-year-old Margie lives in the year 2157 and goes to school in a very unusual way. Her feelings about school are the central emotional thread of the story.
The story ends with Margie thinking about the 'fun they had' in the old school system — children from the neighborhood learning together. The title itself is deeply ironic: Margie's generation has 'advanced' technology but has lost the simple human joys of learning together.
Margie hated school for multiple reasons:
1. The Mechanical Teacher was Failing Her Margie had been doing badly in her Geography tests. Her mechanical teacher kept giving her test after test, and she kept scoring poorly. There was no human understanding — just relentless automated testing.
The biggest reason Margie hated school was the crushing isolation. Her 'school' was her bedroom. She sat alone in front of a machine. There were no classmates to sit with, whisper to, argue with, or walk home with.
When she read about the old school (from 100-200 years ago), she was amazed to learn that:
This communal experience — which we take completely for granted — was something Margie had never experienced and could barely imagine.
The mechanical teacher operated at a fixed time every single day — no flexibility. If Margie had a headache or was in a bad mood, the teacher still operated at the same time, delivered the same lesson, and gave the same tests.
School had become a grim, mechanical chore — completely lacking the laughter, friendships, and human connection that made old schools enjoyable.
The story doesn't say she always hated it, but her hatred peaked when the geographical sector of her mechanical teacher was set too fast, causing her to repeatedly fail tests. Before that adjustment, her feelings may have been milder.
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