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There had been books published prior to 1857 that were set in schools; but there had not been a genre of school stories up until when Thomas Hughes published *Tom Brown’s Schooldays*.
Reading over it now, almost every convention of the genre is there in his first book, beginning with the journey from home to the school. School stories almost begin with the obligatory journey to another world, usually by train but in this case by stage. (Although written in the era of trains, the story is set a generation earlier, in the time that Hughes himself went to Rugby).
It has the new child’s awe at the fantastic buildings – Tom Brown looking at the close at Rugby; Darrell Rivers admiring the stone walls of Malory Towers; Harry Potter viewing Hogwarts. The protagonist is self sufficient, sociable, not terribly academic but good at sports. There’s the antagonist, a sneaky bully who has no school spirit. There is the emphasis on friendship and sports. There’s a god-like Head Master, Arnold, who makes even Dumbledore seem run off the mill. It contains various adventures, the outwitting of dim masters, defeating the bully, moving up through the school. The penultimate scene is of Tom in his final days at Rugby, head of the cricket eleven and respected throughout the school.
There are also a few ways in which *Tom Brown’s Schooldays* includes material not taken up by future school story writers. The book begins with an unnecessary and embarrassing chapter on how Tom would play with the little boys from the village when he was a child, even though they were his social inferiors and spoke with comical peasant accents. And there is a lot more religion than modern authors would include.
There is a substantial plot involving Brown meeting and being redeemed by his relationship with Arthur, a delicate and beautiful boy who demonstrates true Christian grit by getting on his knees to pray in front of the other boys in the dormitory. Arthur and Tom share a special bond, share a study and spend quite a bit of time reading the Bible together. (Hehe).
The final scene of *Tom Brown’s Schooldays* is Brown rushing back to Rugby, after hearing of the death of his Head Master. Overwhelmed, he goes to the chapel and pulls himself together by reflecting that no matter how magnificent Arnold was, his character was just a way of glimpsing the workings of God.
‘And let us not be hard on him, if at that moment his soul is fuller of the tomb and him who lies there, than of the altar and Him of whom it speaks. Such stages have to be gone through, I believe, by all young and brave souls, who must win their way through hero-worship, to the worship of Him who is the King and Lord of heroes.’
Hughes was taught by Thomas Arnold, the famous Head Master of Rugby. Apparently he was quite the inspirational speaker, a proponent of the muscular Christianity of the nineteenth century. Hughes does not seem to have been a special protégé of Arnold, but the massive success of this book basically set Arnold’s image up for the rest of the century – supremely wise, incapable of error, stern, basically the Old Testament God.
I find those parts of the book pretty repellent, but you have to hand it to Hughes – there was something about this novel that inspired a heap of incredibly talented authors to follow him.
There’s the Flashman chronicles by George MaczDonald Fraser. I cannot recommend them enough – basically he takes Hughes’ cowardly villain, Flashman, and writes a series of supremely funny novels about him being a coward and a villain who, through a terrible series of events, is forced into the thick of battles and the centre of politics.
The scene of little Arthur praying in the dormitories may seem familiar. It’s because Terry Pratchett took it up in *Pyramids* where a student brings in a goat and attempts to sacrifice it in his first night at the dormitories of the Assassin’s Academy. The lines ‘Garn, the little pious git’ and ‘There’s no shame in a chap being man enough to pray’ are virtually line for line from *Tom Brown’s Schooldays* but read quite differently with the addition of the pentagram.
And, of course, Hughes stands at the head of the still flourishing genre of school stories. Without Hughes, there is no Malory Towers, no Chalet School, no Greyfriars, no Hogwarts. This book is not without flaws, but if you have inspired authors ranging from Enid Blyton to JK Rowling, George MacDonald Fraser to Terry Pratchett, you have done pretty well.
Reading over it now, almost every convention of the genre is there in his first book, beginning with the journey from home to the school. School stories almost begin with the obligatory journey to another world, usually by train but in this case by stage. (Although written in the era of trains, the story is set a generation earlier, in the time that Hughes himself went to Rugby).
It has the new child’s awe at the fantastic buildings – Tom Brown looking at the close at Rugby; Darrell Rivers admiring the stone walls of Malory Towers; Harry Potter viewing Hogwarts. The protagonist is self sufficient, sociable, not terribly academic but good at sports. There’s the antagonist, a sneaky bully who has no school spirit. There is the emphasis on friendship and sports. There’s a god-like Head Master, Arnold, who makes even Dumbledore seem run off the mill. It contains various adventures, the outwitting of dim masters, defeating the bully, moving up through the school. The penultimate scene is of Tom in his final days at Rugby, head of the cricket eleven and respected throughout the school.
There are also a few ways in which *Tom Brown’s Schooldays* includes material not taken up by future school story writers. The book begins with an unnecessary and embarrassing chapter on how Tom would play with the little boys from the village when he was a child, even though they were his social inferiors and spoke with comical peasant accents. And there is a lot more religion than modern authors would include.
There is a substantial plot involving Brown meeting and being redeemed by his relationship with Arthur, a delicate and beautiful boy who demonstrates true Christian grit by getting on his knees to pray in front of the other boys in the dormitory. Arthur and Tom share a special bond, share a study and spend quite a bit of time reading the Bible together. (Hehe).
The final scene of *Tom Brown’s Schooldays* is Brown rushing back to Rugby, after hearing of the death of his Head Master. Overwhelmed, he goes to the chapel and pulls himself together by reflecting that no matter how magnificent Arnold was, his character was just a way of glimpsing the workings of God.
‘And let us not be hard on him, if at that moment his soul is fuller of the tomb and him who lies there, than of the altar and Him of whom it speaks. Such stages have to be gone through, I believe, by all young and brave souls, who must win their way through hero-worship, to the worship of Him who is the King and Lord of heroes.’
Hughes was taught by Thomas Arnold, the famous Head Master of Rugby. Apparently he was quite the inspirational speaker, a proponent of the muscular Christianity of the nineteenth century. Hughes does not seem to have been a special protégé of Arnold, but the massive success of this book basically set Arnold’s image up for the rest of the century – supremely wise, incapable of error, stern, basically the Old Testament God.
I find those parts of the book pretty repellent, but you have to hand it to Hughes – there was something about this novel that inspired a heap of incredibly talented authors to follow him.
There’s the Flashman chronicles by George MaczDonald Fraser. I cannot recommend them enough – basically he takes Hughes’ cowardly villain, Flashman, and writes a series of supremely funny novels about him being a coward and a villain who, through a terrible series of events, is forced into the thick of battles and the centre of politics.
The scene of little Arthur praying in the dormitories may seem familiar. It’s because Terry Pratchett took it up in *Pyramids* where a student brings in a goat and attempts to sacrifice it in his first night at the dormitories of the Assassin’s Academy. The lines ‘Garn, the little pious git’ and ‘There’s no shame in a chap being man enough to pray’ are virtually line for line from *Tom Brown’s Schooldays* but read quite differently with the addition of the pentagram.
And, of course, Hughes stands at the head of the still flourishing genre of school stories. Without Hughes, there is no Malory Towers, no Chalet School, no Greyfriars, no Hogwarts. This book is not without flaws, but if you have inspired authors ranging from Enid Blyton to JK Rowling, George MacDonald Fraser to Terry Pratchett, you have done pretty well.
