4.2 To Sir, With Love -Notes
4.2 To Sir, With Love
Character-
Ans- Denham is one of the boys in Braithwaite’s class. Like all others, he too is initially dismissive of Braithwaite and is rude and disrespectful towards him. He is particularly aggressive and bad-tempered. Braithwaite’s patience and tolerance transform Denham into a mature, young man who learns to be respectful of others and takes up responsibility. This can be seen from his ability to host the Students’ Council report and supervise its proceedings. While hosting the Students’ Council event, he refers to the other senior girls as ‘Miss’ proving that he has transformed into an honorable young man. He is a trained boxer and enjoys athletic activities. He is a natural leader, who enjoys influence over his classmates and is especially looked up to by the other boys of the class. This is made clear from the support he receives from his criticism of the P.T. class when the other boys cheer him from the audience. He is assertive and confident as he presents his report and is blunt(insensitive), but respectful in his questioning of the need for the P.T. class. In his exchange with Miss Phillips, Denham is not only clever and assertive but also determined in his argument, even though Miss Phillips represents an authoritative figure.
Q.2. Give a brief character-sketch of Miss Joseph.
Ans- Miss Joseph is one of the senior girls in Braithwaite’s class. A natural leader, Miss Joseph, along with Denham, is in charge of hosting the 'half-yearly report of the Students’ Council'. Besides helping in the organization of the event, Miss Joseph also ensures its smooth functioning, by supervising the other students as they perform their assigned tasks, thus displaying her leadership skills. She also delivers a short address outlining the purpose of the Students’ Council activities. When it is the turn of Braithwaite’s class to present its report, it is Miss Joseph who introduces the class’ theme of the brotherhood and interdependency of mankind to the audience. She is confident by nature and delivers her report on Domestic Science with the utmost ease.
Q.3. Give a brief character-sketch of The Narrator.
Ans- The narrator of the novel is the author, E.R. Braithwaite, himself. The novel is based on his real-life experiences,(autobiographical novel) which particularly focuses on his life in England and his job as a teacher at Greenslade School after the Second World War. Before becoming a teacher, he worked as an engineer in oil refinery and even served in the Royal British Air Force during the war.
Though he is British, he is a victim of racial discrimination and prejudice because he is a black man in post-war England. Because of his race, he has trouble finding employment. At last attempt he decides to apply in school and fortunately he got the job as a teacher at Greenslade School, located in the East End of London. The school is famous for its badly behaved students and from the first day, Braithwaite finds it difficult to manage his class full of unruly, notorious children. As someone who is easily angered, Braithwaite struggles to keep calm while dealing with them. Despite not a teacher by profession, Braithwaite is very insightful in his interactions with the students. He recognizes that he lacks the experience of a professional teacher and takes extra effort to improve his teaching skills. He changed his teaching techniques and tactics. He starts to give respect to his students, called boys as a ' Sir' and for girls students 'Miss'. For class cultural exposure,he also arranged field trips, excursions for students. He soon learns to be patient and compassionate towards the students and eventually manages to build a strong bond with them based on mutual respect. He even tries to learn about their backgrounds so as to be able to understand the reasons for their behaviour. Braithwaite is firm but caring and brings about an extraordinary transformation in his students. He is the perfect example of a good teacher, as his influence goes way beyond the classroom and he ends up making a huge difference in his students’ lives. He is intelligent and sensitive and shows genuine concern for the well-being of his students. By not giving up on his students, Braithwaite shows resilience and confidence in his abilities and reaps the rewards of his hard work as he watches with pride the young adults that graduate from his class at the end of the year.
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