Don’t Call Me Ishmael

by

Michael Gerard Bauer

Mr. Barker is the vice principal at St. Daniel’s. He also teaches Ishmael’s Study of Society class. Mr. Barker is an imposing figure; Ishmael notes that one simply doesn’t disobey Mr. Barker, as Mr. Barker will absolutely punish any students who disobey him. He’s also a master of sarcasm. Though Ishmael trusts and respects Mr. Barker, Mr. Barker is occasionally cruel, especially to Bill Kingsley. When the PowerPoint for Bill’s final speech in Mr. Barker’s class turns out to have been tampered with (presumably by Barry), Mr. Barker instead accuses Bill of not taking the assignment seriously and wasting his time. And though Ishmael encourages Bill at several points to tell Mr. Barker about Barry’s bullying, Bill refuses—and for that matter, Ishmael never tells Mr. Barker about the bullying he experiences, either. So while Mr. Barker purports to not tolerate bullying and urges victims to come to him, the novel shows that his methods are actually extremely ineffective.

Mr. Barker Quotes in Don’t Call Me Ishmael

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Barker or refer to Mr. Barker. 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:
Identity and Coming of Age Theme Icon
).
Chapter 6 Quotes

It soon became obvious to every Year Eight that if you wanted to survive your stay at St. Daniel’s Boys School relatively unscathed, there were only two courses of action open to you: either avoid Barry Bagsley at all costs, which was what the majority chose to do, or risk the road less traveled and seek out the dangerous safety of Barry Bagsley’s inner circle of “friends.”

Related Characters: Ishmael Leseur (speaker), Barry Bagsley, Mr. Barker, Danny Wallace, Doug Savage
Page Number: 18
Explanation and Analysis:
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Mr. Barker Quotes in Don’t Call Me Ishmael

The Don’t Call Me Ishmael quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Barker or refer to Mr. Barker. 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:
Identity and Coming of Age Theme Icon
).
Chapter 6 Quotes

It soon became obvious to every Year Eight that if you wanted to survive your stay at St. Daniel’s Boys School relatively unscathed, there were only two courses of action open to you: either avoid Barry Bagsley at all costs, which was what the majority chose to do, or risk the road less traveled and seek out the dangerous safety of Barry Bagsley’s inner circle of “friends.”

Related Characters: Ishmael Leseur (speaker), Barry Bagsley, Mr. Barker, Danny Wallace, Doug Savage
Page Number: 18
Explanation and Analysis: