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Roald’s Father
Mrs. Pratchett owns the sweet shop near the Llandaff Cathedral School. Roald and his friends love the shop and visit it nearly every day, but they dislike the old, dirty, and rude Mrs. Pratchett. When Roald and his friends come to the shop, Mrs. Pratchett watches them suspiciously and speaks to them harshly, leading Roald to conclude that she doesn’t like children very much. With his friends, Roald hatches a plot to hide a dead mouse inside Mrs. Pratchett’s jar of Gobstoppers to frighten her when she reaches in for a handful of candy and pulls out a carcass instead. Although the children succeed in pranking Mrs. Pratchett, she remembers their faces and points them out to Mr. Coombes for punishment. While Mr. Coombes beats the boys with a cane, Mrs. Pratchett urges him on, yelling for the Headmaster to hit them harder. Roald is disturbed by Mrs. Pratchett’s cruelty and apparent enjoyment of the children’s suffering, and her sadism stays with Roald as he grows older and encounters similar characters at the other schools he attends.
Mrs. Pratchett Quotes in Boy
The Boy quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Pratchett or refer to Mrs. Pratchett. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
6. Mrs Pratchett’s Revenge
Quotes
Mr. Coombes stood back and took up a firm stance with his legs well apart. I thought how small Thwaites’s bottom looked and how very tight it was. Mr. Coombes had his eyes focused squarely upon it. He raised his cane high above his shoulder, and as he brought it down, it made a loud swishing sound, and then there was a crack like a pistol shot as it struck Thwaites’s bottom.
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About an hour later, my mother returned and came upstairs to kiss us all goodnight.
‘I wish you hadn’t done that,’ I said to her. ‘It makes me look silly.’
‘They don’t beat small children like that where I come from,’ she said. ‘I won’t allow it.’
‘What did Mr. Coombes say to you, Mama?’
‘He told me that I was a foreigner and I didn’t understand how British schools were run,’ she said.
‘Did he get ratty with you?’
‘Very ratty,’ she said. ‘He told me that if I didn’t like his methods I could take you away.’
‘What did you say?’
‘I said I would, as soon as the school year is finished. I shall find you an English school this time,’ she said. ‘Your father was right. English schools are the best in the world.’
15. Captain Hardcastle
Quotes
Directly across the hall from the Headmaster’s study was the assistant masters’ Common Room. They were all in there now waiting to spread out to their respective classrooms, but what I couldn’t help noticing, even in my agony, was that this door was open.
Why was it open?
Had it been left that way on purpose so that they could all hear more clearly the sound of the cane from across the hall?
Of course it had. And I felt quite sure that it was Captain Hardcastle who had opened it.
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Mrs. Pratchett Quotes in Boy
The Boy quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Pratchett or refer to Mrs. Pratchett. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
6. Mrs Pratchett’s Revenge
Quotes
Mr. Coombes stood back and took up a firm stance with his legs well apart. I thought how small Thwaites’s bottom looked and how very tight it was. Mr. Coombes had his eyes focused squarely upon it. He raised his cane high above his shoulder, and as he brought it down, it made a loud swishing sound, and then there was a crack like a pistol shot as it struck Thwaites’s bottom.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
About an hour later, my mother returned and came upstairs to kiss us all goodnight.
‘I wish you hadn’t done that,’ I said to her. ‘It makes me look silly.’
‘They don’t beat small children like that where I come from,’ she said. ‘I won’t allow it.’
‘What did Mr. Coombes say to you, Mama?’
‘He told me that I was a foreigner and I didn’t understand how British schools were run,’ she said.
‘Did he get ratty with you?’
‘Very ratty,’ she said. ‘He told me that if I didn’t like his methods I could take you away.’
‘What did you say?’
‘I said I would, as soon as the school year is finished. I shall find you an English school this time,’ she said. ‘Your father was right. English schools are the best in the world.’
15. Captain Hardcastle
Quotes
Directly across the hall from the Headmaster’s study was the assistant masters’ Common Room. They were all in there now waiting to spread out to their respective classrooms, but what I couldn’t help noticing, even in my agony, was that this door was open.
Why was it open?
Had it been left that way on purpose so that they could all hear more clearly the sound of the cane from across the hall?
Of course it had. And I felt quite sure that it was Captain Hardcastle who had opened it.
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