This
was the first book I read in 2016. Although only a hundred and eighty five
pages long, it took me quite a while to get through because one has to keep
reminding oneself that this was a book written well over fifty years ago. And
the world has changed much since then. The book has two central themes: one
being the racial discrimination afforded to an educated man and the other being
the challenges the author-cum-protagonist faces in governing over children who
have no concept of civility.
The
book is written autobiographically by author Ricky Braithwaite. He was born and
brought up in one of the numerous British colonies spread over the globe, to be
specific British Guiana. Born a black man, the color of his skin hadn’t been
much of a hindrance to him during his educational life or at the time of his
service in the R.A.F during the Second World War. He describes himself as a
hardworking, sincere and smart post graduate working as an engineer in Aruba
before the war. When Britain entered the war, he joined the service as any able
bodied man would have. He believed he had grown up living life the British way.
By the time the war got over, he had developed a deeper sense of camaraderie
with his fellow man; a trait often found among soldiers who have learned the
value of life at the front.
At
the end of his service, the war office was in charge of making certain that the
soldiers adapted to civilian life smoothly by finding them jobs they were best
suited to. Although Braithwaite was more than eligible for several posts
available in the market and industry of the time, he kept getting turned down
by his prospective employers in Britain. Soon it became evident to him that it
was his color that was holding his otherwise industrious self back. It came as
a shocking revelation to him. He realized that at the war front every human
life was equal. But back in civil society, things like race and skin color
still ruled people’s judgements. He suffered through great depression of spirit
over several months of unemployment. A chance encounter with a stranger in St.
James’ park serendipitously led him to the path of teaching. An old man
desperate for company told the desperate for work protagonist that there was a
dire need for teachers in the East End of London. Considering he had nothing to
lose, Braithwaite applied to the Ministry of Education and very soon received
an appointment at East London’s Greenslade Secondary School.
The
headmaster, Mr. Florian and several other teachers at the school told
Braithwaite that it was a challenging job that not many could last at. Had he
left before the end of the academic term, it wouldn’t have been held against
him. He took over the senior-most class that everyone agreed was the most
difficult to deal with. On his very first day to school, Braithwaite was on the
bus expectantly heading towards his new job in the London of his fantasies. He
was surrounded by some good natured, jovial working women of the East End. The
bus was almost full, save for the seat next to him. A woman got on and refused
to take the seat in spite of the driver’s continued requests. Braithwaite, who
was eager to avoid a row between the driver and the obdurate woman, got off the
bus before his destination. This incident set the tone of a grim beginning for
Braithwaite in the East End society.
The
class that he took on was full of young adults, most of who came from very poor
families. Health and hygiene were not luxuries that the children of these homes
were accustomed to. Braithwaite saw the need to reform their behavior towards
each other as well as him. He put in changes such as addressing the girls as
Miss and the boys by their last names to promote civility in the classroom.
With patience Braithwaite taught the callow teens to be better suited to
society. An incident that stood out in the book was the one regarding the
burning of the used sanitary napkin in the classroom fireplace. No doubt it was
a deplorable action on the part of the students. The author’s intention was to
underline how far these youths could go in their attempts to make life difficult
for him. But his reaction, which involved calling the girls “filthy sluts”,
certainly raises eyebrows in readers today. Granted that the author was
disgusted by the students, however it wasn’t entirely right of a teacher to
call slanderous names to his young female students. It is quite unsettling to
think that the response that the incident triggers now is very different from
how the author had wanted it to be perceived. Another fifty years from now, the
same book might be studied as an insight into how men used to objectify women
in everyday scenarios. Braithwaite describes the male characters in the book
based on their personality, but the women he outlines as meat and bones.
Throughout
the rest of the term, the teacher managed to keep his cool and persevere
through the oppressive East End environment. The families treated him with new
found respect upon learning he was the teacher of their children and not just
an ordinary black man. Braithwaite’s relationship with a fellow teacher,
Gillian Blanchard was another break- through in his social life. They dated in
spite of knowing the prejudices that people harbored and managed to impress
upon Gillian’s parents the sincerity of their feelings towards each other.
