Wednesday, March 16, 2016

What does the narrator think of the char women who ride the bus with him in To Sir, with Love?

The narrator is amused by the char women who ride the bus
with him, and looks upon them with respect, seeing in them "their own kind of dignity."
He describes them as


readability="16">

"thick-armed, bovine women, huge-breasted, with
heavy bodies irrevocably distorted by frequent childbearing, faces pink and slightly
damp from their early labors, the warm May morning and their own energy. There (is) a
look of indestructibility about them, from the tip of each tinted head in its gaudy
headscarf, tightly tied to expose one or two firmly fastened curls, to the solid legs
and large feet which (seem) rooted in the
earth."



The women remind the
narrator of peasants, even though they obviously live in the city. Their coarse and
earthy jokes are told without guile, and, as they "(josh) and (chivvy) each other and
the conductor in an endless stream of lewdly suggestive remarks and retorts," the
narrator is impressed with their openness and uncomplicated approach towards the world.
The narrator is charmed by "the essential naturalness of these folk whe (are) an
integral part of one of the world's greatest cities and at the same time as common as
hayseeds." In their lack of sophistication, the narrator senses a refreshing
genuineness; having lived "too intimately with poverty and danger and death," the char
women understand the things that are important and are not spoiled by the petty
prejudices of those who feel they must make an impression (Chapter
1).

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