The Housekeeper and the Professor

The narrator thinks of the Professor whenever she sees a prime number, which happens frequently. She begins carrying a pencil and notebook with her so that she can test numbers and do calculations whenever she feels like it. She’s intrigued by how deceptive some numbers can be: While 2311, the serial number of a refrigerator, turns out to be prime—giving her a newfound appreciation for the refrigerator—341, a document number, turns out to be composite despite her certainty that it had to be prime.

However, these tests must be done in between her duties; moreover, her discoveries have little implication in her real life. She recalls arguing with the Professor, who believes that even though mathematical discoveries have applications, the “only goal is to discover the truth” in mathematics (114). To illustrate, he asked her to draw a line, then pointed out that what she drew was in fact a line segment—a true line is impossible to draw in the real world because in the real world, we have limits. The only place to find a real line is in our hearts and minds.

One evening, the narrator is about to start dinner for the tax consultants when she receives a call from the agency ordering her to the Professor’s house, as

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