Scene illustrates perfectly Essay Example For Students

Scene illustrates perfectly Essay Mr. Sugden is a physical education teacher at the secondary modern school. Sugden is a bully and again Barry Hines has highlighted the teachers personality with his name, this time employing rhyme as his assistant, as Sugden is a thug. Billy dislikes physical education and does not have the proper kit, since his mother either doesnt want to buy him one or cannot buy him one (the latter seems more believable as Mrs. Casper squanders most of her money on luxuries for herself such as cigarettes and alcohol). Instead of discreetly giving Billy a kit to wear, Sugden chooses to mock him in front of his classmates. Sugdens verbal bullying brings out the negative aspects of Billys personality as the way in which Billy is treated provokes him to answer back and be cheeky. Not only does Sugden have an inferior attitude towards his pupils as well as verbally bullying his pupils but as a big man he does not hesitate to physically abuse them too. He hit Billy twice with the ball, holding it between both hands as though he was murdering him with a boulder. Mr. Sugden bounced the ball on Billys head compressing his neck into his shoulders. His attitude is immature and shows no sportsmanship or fairness, two lessons which should always be reinforced in physical education lessons. His role as adjudicator is one that he does not deserve as he is too juvenile to cooperate fairly. Mr. Sugdens appearance is neat and tidy though; during the football scene Sugden is dressed in a violet tracksuit. To be able to analyse and understand Sugden, we need to see him at his absolute worst, which the football scene illustrates perfectly. Sugden believes he has authority in the changing rooms and also on the football pitch and therefore is very aggressive throughout the football scene Slack work lad, slack work. Sugdens frustration is pushed to the limit when a dog appears on the pitch. If Mr. Sugden had a gun, Mr. Wolf would have been dead in no time. At this time, Billy once again proves that his connections to animals and nature in general are very strong. The teacher thinks he is the only important person in the lesson and Hines has successfully created this image by using the bracket technique; Hines incorporates brackets to the different roles Sugden plays to inform the reader what part he is playing at a particular moment in the match Sugden (commentator) and also to demonstrate the importance and amount of control Sugden has on the game. His negative attitude has a clear affect on the boys, who leave the lesson cold and uninspired. Mr. Sugden uses formal English although occasionally he may slip up and use local dialect. Barry Hines uses Standard and Non-Standard English in his novel. A Kestrel For A Knaves main characters are from Yorkshire and have very recognisable accents. If Hines were to use Standard English throughout the book, we would not see a complete picture of the characters. Billy uses his local dialect all the time as he simply has not been taught Standard English since everyone around Billy, his friends, family and neighbours use the local dialect so Billy has never experienced Standard English enough to pick it up. The title Hard Times makes it seem believable that Dickens is writing honestly about a time that has harsh methods of education. Charles Dickens possibly attended a school like the one in Hard Times so he may aim to make the problems obvious to people who otherwise could fail to notice societys difficulties. Barry Hines also writes truthfully regarding the education system in his era and I think he also aims to highlight the errors of the organization that controls what schools teach their pupils. However Barry Hines writes more realistically as the book is more recent and therefore easier to relate to. Both authors present systems, which now seem very wrong but at the time they were thought of as acceptable. Both books probably contain memories of the authors school days and particularly in A Kestrel for a Knave the scenes seem very believable. Neither system would be justifiable now but in their time the schools teaching methods seemed fair and acceptable to those involved. Using 'A birthday' and 'Rememeber', show how the theme of love effects ones emotions Essaybut I am sure that you know that the whole social system is a question of self interestI was brought up in that catechism when I was very young, Sir, as you are aware.  This proves that he is completely self-concerned, and all sign of feeling and compassion has ebbed due to the Gradgrinds education system which does have an element of irony in it as it is Gradgrind who is begging him to break his own rules. Mr. Gradgrind then offers him a princely sum to try and make him change his mind, and Bitzer even goes as far as to make complicated calculations to see which will make him the most money in the end, therefore declining Gradgrinds offer. He declares that  I was made in the cheapest market, and have to dispose of myself of in the dearest. The fact that Bitzer does not have any grasp of loyalty, compassion, pity, or charity means that Tom is condemned.  The ending of Kes seems slightly abrupt, considering that most mention of Billy with Kes in the book was drawn out with extended language. This is probably to show how Kes has been ripped from Billys life so cruelly, which is reflected in the short, emotionless language used to describe the burial. The ending is left rather ambiguously; we are not sure what path Billys life will take. But by this Hines may have been implying that due to Kes, there is a different path he can take now, Billy has the choice to make something of his life. The childrens lives are followed in the two books, and are portrayed as victims of their individual systems. The consequences of this are shown both to be negative; in A Kestrel for a Knave young Billy Caspers life is an awful one, and in Hard Times when they reach adulthood they are unable to function properly as adults. Therefore, both systems can be seen as failures. Gradgrinds system appears to dehumanise the pupils and individualism is not encouraged. A pupil who is seen to be a success of Gradgrinds school would have been brainwashed, completely empty of personality but full of information in the form of facts that do not properly prepare the children for the life that they are to lead. I believe that Mr. Gryces method is the system that has prepared the children best for the life they are to lead, as they are more able to cope with the problems that they will encounter. As seen in Hard Times, Gradgrinds class simply cant cope with emotional pressures and so collapse under the strain as Tom did when he chose to steal from his father. Billy, Sissy and most children from his background began life through no fault of their own with a huge handicap. The children have little chance of improving their situation and are therefore all destined to lead relatively uncomfortable lives. Barry Hines and Charles Dickens attempt to expose this social deprivation at many stages in their books. From this we learn that Hines and Dickens have a strong bias towards Billy, Sissy and all similar children in general. Perhaps each author wishes to blame the childrens futile existence on the wealthier citizens the Upper Class. Whether or not the authors intended to, both Hard Times and A Kestrel For A Knave gave credence to what the adolescence of England was being taught at that time.