Book Review on To Sir With Love by E.R Braithwaite

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.

By the end of the school term, Braithwaite could look at his pupils with pride, for they had progressed incredibly since the first time they had met. The students attributed the changes in their lives to their teacher and guide. They thanked him by addressing a gratitude note to him, which read “To Sir, With Love”. The author found happiness in the profession that fate had forced upon him and could thus bring purpose to his work.