To Serve Them All My Days- Week 5

[Hugh]

This week's section covers chapter 2 of Part IV and the first two chapters of Part V.

[Brian E]

TO SERVE THEM ALL MY DAYS – 5th Week - PART IV, Chapter 2; PART V, Chapters 1 – 2
I will put the summary in spoilers. (view spoiler)[
PART IV
CHAPTER 2
SubCh.1 – David walks out of the interview and replays it in his head. While David and Grace play “Bye-Bye Blackbird" which music aficionado Hoskins has provided them, Algy comes into David’s place and informs him that the Governing Body had evenly split between David and Carter and, with no one budging an inch, they chose an outsider, Alcock, the 53-year-old from Cape Town. They discuss Alcock’s potential and Algy says he’s a no-nonsense, no-humor activist.
SubCh.2 – David receives a letter from Julia in America that she has married the teashop owner Sprockman. While she doesn’t love him, unlike with David, she can at least be the kind of wife he needs. David writes to Julia to congratulate her, wish her good luck and say his forever good-bye.

PART V – IMPASSE
CHAPTER 1 – the Alcock years will be the referred to by David as the “impasse years.” This part deals with Bamfyld under the leadership of the no-nonsense, no-humor activist and often petty Alcock. While the David/Alcock relation is the key plot impetus, what is most interesting is the evolution of the David/Carter relationship.
SubCh.1 - At Algy’s farewell supper in the Big Hall, David first notices Alcock’s complete lack of reaction to either the humor or pathos in Algy’s speech. Irvine is upset at Alcock’s apathy toward athletics. Carter has butted heads with him too. Yet Howarth and David’s other friends prefer to be cynically passive about Alcock’s serious-minded pedantry. Reflective on Alcock’s reactions during Algy’s speech, David agrees with Carter’s assessment that Alcock will never identify with Bamfyld and let its spirit take him over.
SubCh.2 – Alcock the fastidious pedant updates and cleans the bathroom and other facilities previously deft in some disarray. He also issues behavior edicts to force the students to conform to. The students refer to him as “Noble” as their mor publicly acceptable version of their nickname “No Balls” derived from his petty edicts and that he is “Alcock”. Alcock posted a Notice in the latrines saying anyone clogging the toilets with debris would be traced and punished. A student had added the words “no balls” after Alcock’s name on the Notice. Hoping to avoid an incident, David removed the Notice and tore it up. At lunch Alcock tells all the students that he wants the person who removed the Notice to return it and make an apology and they will be admonished, no more. When no one returns it, Alcock states that he will cancel the half-term holiday unless he gets that Notice. David tells Alcock he was the one who took the Notice and tore it up since it had been defaced. When asked, David refuses to tell Alcock how it was defaced.
SubCh.3 - Alcock catches Monk, one of Carter’s Outram Hall boys, smoking and expels him from Bamfyld. Carter pleads with David to get others to sign a petition to present to Alcock for a lesser sentence for Monk. David gets Barnaby, Rapper Gibbs and even Howarth to sign, but Irvine refuses as he doesn’t want to risk further jeopardizing the status of sports with Alcock.
SubCh.4 - After being presented the petition, Alcock grants Monk a reprieve allowing him to sit for exams and finish this school year only. As he did it on the basis that Monk had insufficient warning that he would be expelled for smoking, Alcock, with Monk in tow, tells the students at lunch they will be expelled for smoking. When student Hoskins snickers, Alcock removes him as a prefect. Hoskins seems unabashed by the demotion when he brings along his new record “Carolina Moon” to play for Grace.
CHAPTER 2
SubCh.1 - Leader of the Lumps, Hislop reports to David about how they resolved the recent thievery in Havelock. Along with other thefts, Hislop had over 12 pounds stolen, claiming the funds came from his Aunt. Hislop says they found the stolen items in the room of Cricklade, the new ‘chap’ who cleans Havelock. Against Hislop’s desires, David reports it to Alcock who investigates and then expels Hislop when he finds out he got his money from taking bets on Sports Day. David is upset that Alcock bypassed him and questions the use of the house system if he continues to do that. Alcock states that the house system serves no purpose and will want to give thought to what alternative system to replace it with. Alcock tells David they are incompatible and asks if he may expect David’s resignation. David says, “Not now, not any time” and slightly rattles Alcock by saying he’ll make a fuss with the Governing Body if Alcock tries to get rid of him.
SubCh.2 - Carter tells David he’s thinking about purchasing his own school and asks if David would be interested in joining him. David considers but says he has Grace to worry about. David calls Hislop’s parents and uplifts their spirits when he tells them he will write a recommendation letter for their son for applying at other schools. (hide spoiler)]

[Cat]

Brian E wrote: "(view spoiler)[...] While the David/Alcock relation is the key plot impetus, what is most interesting is the evolution of the David/Carter relationship... (hide spoiler)]"

Thanks, Brian! (view spoiler)[What are your thoughts about this progression in P.J. and Carter's bond? Alcock's headship brings to the fore a couple of criticisms towards Algy's tenure - which feels new - and it sounds like the staff are splintering further as these glacial vibes brim over at Bamfylde. Hoskin's perspective in SubCh.4 is fab! (hide spoiler)]

[Brian E]

I don't think we have to continue on spoilers. I just put the beginning summaries in because it is right near the top in the event someone who is just flipping through the various sections.
Everyone this far in the thread should only be reading these posts if they have read this week's segment. A major advantage of these weekly reads is that everyone discussing should be at the same point so spoilers are unnecessary.

- I presumed the Carter/David feud would continue until they battled for the top spot. When it happened earlier than I thought with Algy's retirement I thought it was too early for either David and Carter to take over and for the story to be about the conflict of one as a headmaster and the other his opponent. I was right on that point as I figured they deferred that to later by having Alcock take over

- My thoughts of Carter and David's new bond is that it adds a twist that I did not expect. When Alcock took over, I thought Carter would cozy up and be his lacky and then be in line to take over when Alcock left and we would have the second David/Carter for headmaster battle. So the David/Carter bond throws off that projection. I like it that my expectations keep on being wrong. My only concern with it is that I'm not sure why Carter reacts so badly to Alcock. I guess he is more principled than I had considered and was more concerned with his more modern approach to learning. His fealty to his students is also contrary to what I thought his approach to treating students was. He's more of a friend and advocate than I thought his teaching approach would allow.
teaching was.

- Yes, as David gets closer to Carter some of his other friends seems more tolerant of Alcock's wackiness because he is taking care of some surface issues that Algy neglected.
I can see that. It reminds me if the scene in Monty Python's "Life of Brian" where the leader of the rebellious upstart group asks "What have the Romans ever done for us any way" and someone replies "Well, there's the aqueducts" and the leader says: "True. But besides the aqueducts, what else have the Romans ever done for us?" and someone keeps on coming up with things the Romans did to improve the life in Judea.

- Hoskins' perspective was awesome, probably too mature for him but he is a mature one. His attitude will serve him well in life.