Talk:Tom Brown's Schooldays
From Academic Kids
My edition has "School Days", but I see some of those on the Web have "Schooldays". How sure are we of the correct title?
Looking back at the book, I see that the roasting didn't cause Tom to leave school, and that he and East fight Flashman in the first half of the book, before Arthur is introduced. Also, Tom learned boxing and wrestling in the White Horse Vale before going to school, not after being bullied by Flashman. --JerryFriedman
I'm convinced that bullying is not the central theme. The business with Flashman and his friends takes up two chapters and parts of two others, out of eighteen chapters. (You could say that it's also the reason for the fight, which is another chapter, but I see a big difference between Slogger Williams hitting Arthur for "sneaking" and Flashy tormenting boys for fun.) Tom's resistance to bullying is one part of his growth. So the only substantive change I made, in all my reorganizing, is saying what I believe the theme is. --JerryFriedman
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Why is Tom Brown's School Days hated by some? J. Michael Reiter
- That line isn't in the article any more (though I'm thinking about putting something back in somewhere about the strong feelings the book arouses). I think the main reasons are that it's preachy, it defends fighting among schoolboys and only mildly criticizes birdsnesting, it approves of the highly stratified society of the author's childhood, and some people were forced to read it as children. —JerryFriedman 16:45, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)
Tom Brown's School-Days and bullying
I stumbled across this discussion whilst trying to ascertain the identity of "F.D." as quoted in the preface to the edition I possess. (Tom Brown's School-Days [sic] by Thomas Hughes edited by Howard Marshall. Purnell and Sons Ltd 1963) It is a while since I have read the book but as an ex-public school boy in mid-life coming to terms with his past I found Thomas Hughes' preface illuminating. He addresses correspondence he had received regarding a previous edition (which one is not stated)referring to the topic of bullying. It appears that some of the author's contemporaries had taken him to task for not dealing sufficiently with this topic. An eloquent letter from "F.D" (introduced as an "old friend" - who is he?) is quoted in full and, in my opinion, makes some telling points. Hughes appears to rebut these. He has an optimistic nature, faith in the system, those who uphold it, and the triumph of good over evil. I suspect that many who survived even later manifestations of the public school system, under less inspired leadership than Arnold's, would strongly identify with "F.D."'s criticisms.
John Hicks
