Re: School stories

On 02/04/2026 20:33, rbowman wrote:
> On Thu, 02 Apr 2026 05:33:56 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:
> 
>> Both Kipling and Lewis wrote about Edwardian English public schools.
>>
>> Lewis also mentioned schools in his fiction, most notably in "The Silver
>> Chair", where he describes authoritarianism in what was ostensibly a
>> libertarian school.
> 
> Kipling wrote about the hazing of the younger students by the older ones.
> In 'Surprised by Joy' Lewis strongly hints there was a sexual element.

It was punishable by expulsion if it was found out.
'bestiality' (masturbation) was an expulsion event.

Kipling remarks in one part how the dormitories were used as cut 
throughs by masters late and night and mentions that it was only years 
later that he realised why they were regularly and covertly patrolled...

Of course there was sexual activity, then and now, Gay boys don't get to 
be gay from nowhere. They learn by example.

And the 'hazing' was not 'hazing' - it was full on torture of a horrific 
kind. A large part of that book is about what it took to withstand it, 
and indeed the discipline of the Army life which so many would end up 
living.

Intelligence,  physical fortitude, cunning, psychology, leadership - all 
these were necessary adjuncts to running an Empire and keeping the 
tribes in order in India  etc.

And the schools were there to shape character and attitude as much as to 
impart academic knowledge.

Harry Potters Hogwarts is a sort of dim echo of the British Public School...



-- 
WOKE is an acronym... Without Originality, Knowledge or Education.