# II explained — Robbery Under Arms > Chapter companion for Robbery Under Arms by Rolf Boldrewood. ## What happens Dick Marston reflects on his childhood education under the eccentric schoolmaster Mr. Howard, who taught him and his brother Jim alongside other local children. After Mr. Howard's death, Dick begins to understand his father's cattle duffing operations, recalling the first time he helped brand stolen calves. His mother protests against this criminal life, but his father overpowers her, forcing Dick and Jim to participate in the branding and butchering of stolen cattle. ## Themes in this chapter ### Crime and Punishment Dick's first involvement in cattle duffing highlights the normalization of crime in the bush and the moral consequences that follow. ### Family and Loyalty The Marston family is torn between the father's criminal demands and the mother's pleas for a lawful life, testing filial loyalty. ### The Bush and Outlaw Life The remote setting and the father's cattle duffing operations illustrate the outlaw culture of the Australian bush. ## Character check-ins ### Dick Marston Narrator recalling his childhood education and first involvement in cattle duffing with his father. ### Jim Marston Dick's brother, who also attends school and helps with branding stolen calves. ### Aileen Marston Dick's sister, praised by Mr. Howard for her natural refinement; present during the family conflict. ### Dad Marston Dick's father, a cattle duffer who forces his sons to brand stolen calves and assaults his wife. ### Mother Marston Dick's mother, who pleads with her husband to stop his criminal activities and is shoved aside. ### Crib The family's savage dog, used to heel cattle during the duffing operations. ## Key lines > It’s the best chance of making men of yourselves you ever had, if you only knew it. You’ll be rich farmers or settlers, perhaps magistrates, one of these days—that is, if you’re not hanged. Mr. Howard tells the boys that education is their best opportunity to become successful settlers or even magistrates, though he warns that some of them may end up hanged. _Mr. Howard's prophetic warning to Dick and the other boys about their potential futures._ > Don’t I remember well the first calf I ever helped to put our letters on? I’ve often wished I’d defied father, then taken my licking, and bolted away from home. It’s that very calf and the things it led to that’s helped to put me where I am! Dick recalls the first time he helped brand a stolen calf, regretting that he didn't resist his father, as that act set him on the path to his current imprisonment. _Dick's regret over his first participation in cattle duffing, which he sees as the beginning of his criminal downfall._ > Is it doing that again you are, after all you promised me, and you so nearly caught—after the last one? Didn’t I go on my knees to ye to ask ye to drop it and lead a good life, and didn’t ye tell me ye’d never do the like again? Mother Marston confronts her husband, reminding him of his promise to stop cattle duffing after a close call with the police. _Mother's desperate plea to her husband to abandon his criminal ways._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/robbery_under_arms_se/chapters/ii - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/robbery_under_arms_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/robbery_under_arms_se/chapters