The Way of All Flesh · Chapter
XXVII explained
Ernest Pontifex, now twelve years old, is sent to Roughborough School under the formidable Dr.
What happens
Ernest Pontifex, now twelve years old, is sent to Roughborough School under the formidable Dr. Skinner. The chapter provides a detailed portrait of Dr. Skinner as a celebrated but pompous and hypocritical headmaster, and includes a first-person account from the narrator (Overton) of a chess game and supper with Skinner, revealing the gap between Skinner's public reputation and his private behavior.
Themes in this chapter
Hypocrisy of Victorian Morality
Dr. Skinner's public image as a moral and scholarly paragon contrasts sharply with his private indulgence, dishonesty in scholarship, and oppressive treatment of students.
Education and Indoctrination
The chapter critiques the educational system at Roughborough, where Skinner molds boys into 'God-fearing earnest Christians and Liberals,' suppressing dissent and punishing those who resist.
Money and Social Class
Skinner's wealth from his writings and his position as headmaster is contrasted with the moral corruption underlying his success, highlighting the link between money and social standing.
Characters to notice
- Ernest Pontifex
Now twelve years old, Ernest has mastered Latin, Greek, arithmetic, Euclid, and French, and is sent to Roughborough School.
- Theobald Pontifex
Theobald arranges for Ernest to attend Roughborough, having known Dr. Skinner slightly at Cambridge.
- Dr. Skinner
The famous headmaster of Roughborough, a self-important scholar and author of 'Meditations Upon the Epistle and Character of St. Jude,' who is revealed as hypocritical and pompous.
- Alethea Pontifex
Mentioned as living in Roughborough; the narrator visits her on business during the Christmas holidays.
- Mr. Overton
The narrator, who plays chess with Dr. Skinner and recounts the evening's events, including Skinner's ostentatious modesty about food and drink.
- Mrs. Skinner
Dr. Skinner's wife, who manages the household and ensures the boys are well fed and cared for.
Key passages
“He had made £5,000 by this work alone, and would very likely make another £5,000 before he died.”
Skinner earned £5,000 from his book on St. Jude and expected to earn as much again.
Highlights Skinner's financial success from his scholarly work, despite its dubious originality.
“Those who searched for this even in his lightest utterances would not be without their reward. They would find that 'bread and butter' was Skinnerese for oyster-patties and apple tart, and 'gin hot' the true translation of water.”
Skinner's modest requests for bread and butter and water actually meant rich food and gin, revealing his hypocrisy.
Satirizes Skinner's pretentiousness and the gap between his words and actions.
“He had become immortal because he cared nothing about the most important movement with which he was ever brought into connection... and so, if Dr. Skinner becomes immortal, it will probably be for some reason very different from the one which he so fondly imagined.”
Like Gallio, Skinner may be remembered for something trivial rather than his scholarly achievements.
Reflects on the irony of legacy and the unpredictability of fame.