Erewhon Revisited · Chapter
A Visit to the Provincial Deformatory at Fairmead explained
Higgs, under the alias Mr.
What happens
Higgs, under the alias Mr. Senoj, visits the Provincial Deformatory for Boys at Fairmead and meets the headmaster, Mr. Turvey. He observes a school system that deliberately teaches imperfection, insincerity, and controlled vice as a means to achieve the greatest happiness of the greatest number. The headmaster explains the philosophy behind the institution, which inverts conventional morality by punishing truthfulness and rewarding strategic dishonesty. Higgs witnesses a lesson on the 'Counsels of Imperfection' and hears the boys recite distorted versions of his own sayings. When he fears the arrival of Professors Hanky and Panky, he feigns illness and flees, shaken by the perversion of his teachings.
Themes in this chapter
Satire of Institutions
The Deformatory is a biting satire of educational and penal systems that claim to promote morality while teaching hypocrisy and strategic dishonesty.
Hypocrisy and Deception
The entire system is built on the premise that insincerity and controlled vice are necessary for social harmony, inverting conventional ethics.
Truth and Perception
The chapter explores how truth is systematically undermined and redefined, with the headmaster arguing that truth is best reached through the 'falling out of thieves.'
Characters to notice
- My Father
Visits the Deformatory under the alias Mr. Senoj, observes the perverse educational system, and flees when he fears encountering Hanky and Panky.
- Mr. Turvey
Headmaster of the Deformatory who enthusiastically explains and defends the system of teaching imperfection and strategic dishonesty.
- Professor Hanky
Mentioned as one of the professors who reinterpreted the Sunchild's teachings; Higgs fears meeting him at the Deformatory.
- Professor Panky
Mentioned alongside Hanky as a source of the esoteric reinterpretation of the Sunchild's sayings; Higgs avoids him.
Key passages
“Resist good, and it will fly from you. Sunchild's Sayings, xvii 2.”
The inscription over the school fireplace inverts the biblical exhortation to resist evil, suggesting that resisting goodness will make it flee.
This distorted saying reflects the school's philosophy of avoiding virtue.
“Honesty does not consist in never stealing, but in knowing how and where it will be safe to do so.”
Mr. Turvey teaches that honesty is not about refraining from theft but about knowing when and where it is safe to steal.
This encapsulates the school's moral inversion.
“Cursed be they that say, 'Thou shalt not serve God and Mammon, for it is the whole duty of man to know how to adjust the conflicting claims of these two deities.'”
The head-boy recites a corrupted version of the Sunchild's teaching, claiming that one must serve both God and Mammon.
Higgs corrects this, stating the original teaching was that one cannot serve both.
“If we aim steadily at imperfection, we shall probably get it within a reasonable time, whereas to the end of our days we should never reach perfection.”
Mr. Turvey argues that aiming for imperfection is more practical and achievable than striving for perfection.
This rationalizes the school's systematic teaching of vice.