Previous
23. Fagging
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Boy, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Authority and Hypocrisy
Beauty and Imagination
Growing Up
English Nationalism
Summary
Analysis
Roald excels at two of Repton’s sports: fives (similar to American handball) and squash-racquets. Games are a major part of life at Repton, and since Roald quickly becomes captain of two games, he gains some privileges, responsibilities, and better treatment from the masters. A captain at Repton is generally always made a Boazer, but the masters sense Roald’s disrespect for authority and refuse to make him one. Roald is content with this decision, reflecting that if he were a Boazer, he would likely refuse to beat his “Fags” and thus endanger the entire system of school hierarchy. Roald is still happy to be playing games, as they’re one of his only sources of happiness at Repton.
Although Roald is now finally old enough to wield power and authority over others, he rejects it. His refusal demonstrates that it is possible to avoid becoming complicit in the English public schools’ hypocrisy and abuse of the vulnerable, as long as one is willing to sacrifice some measure of personal gain. To Roald, the entire system of hierarchy, discipline, and authority at Repton is not worthy of preservation.
Themes
Roald’s other source of happiness is photography, a hobby and talent that he alone develops. Roald reflects on how much harder photography was during his boyhood. Arthur Norris, Repton’s art teacher, helps Roald with his photography and invites him to his apartment to talk about painting over tea. By the time Roald is 18, he wins several prestigious prizes for his photographs. In 1940, while Roald is serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II, his photo of the Arch of Ctesiphon in Iraq even wins a bronze medal from the Egyptian Photographic Society of Cairo.
Roald’s love of photography is a manifestation of his love for beauty, his inheritance from his father and uncle. Where Harald and Oscar collected art and furniture for their homes, Roald goes on to collect photographs of his travels, a hobby that combines his love of beauty with his passion for adventure. Arthur Norris is another rare example of a master who helps Roald instead of hurting him, suggesting again that it is possible to hold authority without abusing it.
Themes
