English 1: George Orwell: Such, Such Were The Joys (Essay Sample)

SO HUI HAN
Prof. Karron Robert
English 1
Jan 30, 2014
Such, Such Were the Joys
School life is an important part of every person and it nurtures a person’s character, shapes, mental attitude and understanding of life as well as fashions basic of life principles. Due to the fact that life involves training, and school life prepares an individual to face the challenges that the world offers after leaving school, some people recollect their school life days with happiness, while others dread those days of their life. It is also worth noting that, most people’s perspective towards school life depends on the schools they attended, as well as how well they got along with their parents ‘during the time. An individual’s school life impacts their perception about life (Orwell 269). My school life was very different from Orwell’s school life. I never went to boarding school since I always lived with my parents. What’s more, my teachers were not mean and they never treated the poor children any different.
In "Such, Such Were The Joys, Orwell talks about his earlier life as a public school student at St. Cyprians. In matters of reputation, Children received treatment depending on their class and wealth status. There were hardship conditions for children from poor background in the boarding school and this made Orwell realize that he was alone in the harsh and hostile conditions. The reputation of the public schools that controlled the education system made him hate his life at Crossgates because the schools were interested in creating reputation at the expense of students’ lives. For instance, a school referred an eight-year old boy as a measurable snotty-nosed creature since he was from a poor background. It is also worth noting that, the punishments for wealthy wrongdoers were bed; for example, a clergyman’s girl who had not stopped wetting her bed, as her punishment she was taken to a big party and introduced as a bed wetter. She had also been face painted black by her father to put emphasize to her wickedness.
As for matters regarding wealth, during the period when Orwell received education, class and wealth were of upmost importance to schools like St. Cyprians. The financial state of the public schools that controlled the education system also made him hate his school life. Orwell explains the manner in which the difference classes of students received their weekly allowances. He states that the millionaires received six pence a week, the standard amount being three pence. He and one or two other boys got only two pence a week (Orwell 277). This kind of mean treatment extended even to fellow boys. For example, there was a Russian boy who had asked Orwell about his father’s wealth. After telling him what he thought, the Russian boy made it known with pleased scorn that his father earned more money two hundred times that of Orwell’s father. He also describes how he had to revise possible examination questions for the scholarship. Most children only gave the answer of events without knowledge of their meaning (Orwell 275). Evidently, it is quite noticeable that the attitude towards the current education is much sensible in comparison to the past education system. The current education has put systems that can detect work copied from a previous exercise or questions previously asked and avoid using them.
The following are some of the things that differ from Orwell’s school life and my school life. First, he lived with the poor because his family was not wealthy during his ...