Anne Frank's diary
When it is time for Marin to teach The Diary of Anne Frank, he discovers that many students couldn't be bothered to care about the book. Although the Nazi presence in Paris was one of the darkest moments in French history, these young students have to be persuaded that the book is relevant. That is a symbolic moment in the novel, showing the absence of respect and empathy that shapes these aloof kids' culture. To Marin, this is a portrait of his duty.
Souleymane and Carl
When two students begin to argue about a soccer/football game, Marin has to intervene. Instead of receiving respect, he receives insults, and Souleymane is sent to the principle's office. This is a symbolic moment because Marin has been working to improve Souleymane's attention in class, and all his work is undone by one competitive moment. Symbolically, Souleymane's outburst shows that competition brings out the worst in his students. Also, it shows that they care more about meaningless games than the compelling artifacts of literature and the human experience.
The photographic essay
The disappointment with Souleymane shows another difficult lesson to Marin. Souleymane has a hard time reading and writing French, so much so that he returns a photography album instead of an essay. Ironically, that ends up being the essay prompt's most thoughtful and insightful response, so he scores well on it. When he insults Marin, he proves that he is more comfortable with derogative language than constructive language. The skepticism of the class is shown here, because they are more apt and prone to criticize than to construct commentary.
Esmeralda and Louise
These trouble-making gals cause Marin a great deal of stress when they begin to tease him in their perfectly deniable way. They are experts of plausible deniability, and they know how to exploit Marin's self-esteem weaknesses. Their teasing leaves him unable to control his emotions, because they are intentionally coy and manipulative. They don't understand what it is like to be an adult man who has been manipulated by girlfriends past. When he loses his temper, he loses control of his classroom because they have exposed his emotional vulnerability and weakness. They are femmes fatales.
Marin's goal
After a somewhat frustrating and disappointing year, Marin gets the respect and honor he has worked to attain from his ungrateful students, but symbolically. He doesn't receive applause for his commendable teaching efforts, or for his personal endurance, but because he scores a beautiful goal in a school soccer game. This brings his competence into a new light. Not only is he skilled in the arenas that the students don't care at all about, but he is also genuinely human and similar to them. By playing soccer, he demonstrates his superiority as an adult, which formerly was restricted to the classroom. When they applaud him, they are also symbolically honoring the sacrifice that teachers make by serving the goals of education instead of impressing children with their irrelevant skillsets.
