Education for Leisure Summary

A speaker states that he plans to kill something today, because he is tired of being ignored and wants to play God. He observes that it's a normal, overcast day. He kills a fly by crushing it against a windowpane, which he used to do at school. This reminds him of Shakespeare, which was like another language to him. Now, he says, the fly is also transmuted into another language. He exhales on the glass and writes his name in the fog. The speaker says that he is a genius and could achieve anything he wanted, given the chance. Today, he says, he will change the world, or at least the world of something. The cat, who the speaker says knows he is a genius, avoids him. He pours a goldfish into the toilet and flushes it down, saying that this is good. The speaker's pet bird begins to panic. He reflects that, every two weeks, he walks into town to sign up for work. The people he meets at the unemployment center aren't appreciative of his signature, which he refers to as an autograph. Now, he says, he has nothing left to kill. He calls up a radio show and tells the host that he is a celebrity, but the host doesn't let him speak. The speaker grabs a knife and walks outside. Addressing someone in the second person, he narrates that he touches "your" arm.