Tono-Bungay · Chapter
VI explained
George Ponderevo describes his schooling at a private school run by a man with a College of Preceptors diploma, a typical middle-class institution of the time.
What happens
George Ponderevo describes his schooling at a private school run by a man with a College of Preceptors diploma, a typical middle-class institution of the time. He reflects on the rough but free nature of his education, the spiritual neglect that allowed for genuine boyhood adventures, and the formative influence of his friend Ewart, who introduced him to a broader, more imaginative world.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Mobility
The school system described is a product of the Bladesover system, reinforcing class divisions; George's education is typical of the middle stratum.
Modernity and Disillusionment
George's nostalgic yet critical view of his schooldays contrasts with the harsh realities of adult life, hinting at a loss of innocence.
Characters to notice
- George Ponderevo
Narrator and protagonist, reflecting on his schooldays and the freedom of his youth.
- Ewart
George's lifelong friend, a long-limbed lout with a knack for making the world seem wonderful; introduced George to love and imaginative thinking.
- Young Roots
A schoolmate who brought a revolver and cartridges, leading to a wild adventure with the pistol.
Key passages
“The school I went to was the sort of school the Bladesover system permitted. The public schools that had come into existence in the brief glow of the Renaissance had been taken possession of by the ruling class; the lower classes were not supposed to stand in need of schools, and our middle stratum got the schools it deserved, private schools, schools any unqualified pretender was free to establish.”
George explains that his school was typical of what the Bladesover social hierarchy allowed: public schools were for the upper class, the poor were ignored, and the middle class had to make do with private schools run by anyone who could set one up.
This passage critiques the class-based education system of Victorian England.
“We had one inestimable privilege at that school, and that was spiritual neglect. We dealt with one another with the forcible simplicity of natural boys, we 'cheeked,' and 'punched' and 'clouted'; we thought ourselves Red Indians and cowboys and suchlike honourable things, and not young English gentlemen; we never felt the strain of 'Onward Christian soldiers,' nor were swayed by any premature piety in the cold oak pew of our Sunday devotions.”
George values the lack of religious and moral indoctrination at his school, which allowed the boys to be natural and rough, imagining themselves as adventurers rather than proper English gentlemen.
This highlights the contrast between genuine boyhood freedom and the stifling piety of more 'respectable' schools.
“He was, I know now the bastard of that great improvident artist, Rickmann Ewart; he brought the light of a lax world that at least had not turned its back upon beauty, into the growing fermentation of my mind.”
George reveals that Ewart was the illegitimate son of an artist, and that Ewart introduced him to a more liberal and aesthetic perspective, which stirred his developing thoughts.
This foreshadows Ewart's influence on George's intellectual and emotional growth.