Brief Summary + Quotation

When Krishna is teaching in his first lesson he manages to come 15 minutes late in the lesson which signifies that he is undetermined to teach. This is reinforced by him coming to the lesson unprepared when he realises that he ‘hadn’t prepared even a page of lecture’. He is then presented as being aggressive when he ‘banged on the table’ after arguing with the students over taking ‘the attendance at the end of the period’. His lesson is very structured and routine, this is suggested by the ‘bell’ which conveys that the college is routine and strict as it encourages punctuality. This contrasts with the spontaneity in the Headmaster’s school where the walls are covered with ‘glittering alphabets’ this description illustrates freedom and creativity in the children’s lives.

Krishna’s first lesson was focused on the history of King Lear. Krishna is presented as an impassionate teacher who is only teaching for ‘100 rupees’. This is reinforced by himself [mugging] the notes in the verity edition of Lear, which implies that he is an undetermined teacher as he is stealing other people’s work and that he lacks the creativity in his lesson as he does not love his job. Furthermore, the fact that the work that he stole revolved around ‘Elizabethan English’ suggests that the college adopts an English system which reinforces the English domination in India. The impression of himself being insecure is presented ‘My dear fellow don’t trust me so much’ this demonstrates that he is in doubt and does not know what he is really do as he ‘Hadn’t prepared’ for the lesson. Lastly, the impression of Krishna’s impassionate personality of teaching is suggested by ‘Only fifteen minutes more’. This implies that he cannot wait until the lesson finishes.


Role of Novel

The role of the novel in this scene illustrates that Krishna is ‘dissatisfied’ and has no obligation for his duty in teaching. Krishna is unprepared for his lesson and this which shows lack of commitment and determination. His students are uninformed and have no insight in the text itself as they are known to ‘mug up' and take someone else’s work and opinions. Krishna lesson is well routine and structured which shows that college have been over influenced by the English literature. Another role that this section shows is that Krishna’s life is incomplete and there are still some elements that are missing in his life. Another role that is expressed is that the college has a different style of teaching from the headmasters school, as the colleges lacks the variation and joy which is described in the headmaster’s school.