Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Blossom]

I recently watched an old film called The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and this made me look for the book on the web to read.

There are many things that I do not understand, especially the punishment of girls in the school. There is a scene where Becky accidentally tears a page in the schoolmaster�s book and she is very frightened. She is afraid she will be punished. She is afraid that Tom will tell on her. In the book, she says, �You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Tom Sawyer; you know you're going to tell on me, and oh, what shall I do, what shall I do! I'll be whipped.�

I understand that to be whipped means that she will be beaten with a cane, and not a whip. But does this mean that girls were caned in schools in those days?

It was a mixed school, and from the film, and from the book, it seems that beatings were given in front of the whole class. Would Becky have been beaten in front of the others? And would she have been beaten on the bottom like Tom was in the film?

The book also says, �The school-master, always severe, grew severer and more exacting than ever, for he wanted the school to make a good showing on "Examination" day. His rod and his ferule were seldom idle now -- at least among the smaller pupils. Only the biggest boys, and young ladies of eighteen and twenty, escaped lashing.�

But I remember from the film that the schoolmaster beat Tom on the bottom with a bundle of rods. This is called a birch, I believe. But the book does not mention a birch. It only mentions a rod and a ferule. What is the difference between these? I thought a ferule was a rod and similar to a cane?

[Brian Boyd]

Hello Blossom

I believe that school teachers really were that strict back in those days - it was a very different style of teaching and a lot of importance was put on rules and behaviour.

I grew up in Britain when it was still common to be given the cane or the strap (a leather strap which was used to strike out hands).

In Roald Dahl's 'Boy' (the story of his childhood) you can read about a really nasty occasion where the cane was used. Roald Dahlk says it felt like a hot wire being pressed to his bum (bottom).

I hope you're enjoying Tom Sawyer - it's one of my favourite books ever, and I think Mark Twain is a genius with words.

Brian
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[bud]

I agree with Brian.

Blossom, no movie is ever an exact copy of the book it is based on. Occasionally even the plot is altered. The difference in the tool used for the whippings is not significant, especially for understanding vocabulary.

To me, a rod would be very similar to a cane, but perhaps not made of wood. A ferule is more like a board than a cane. I always asumed a birch was just a cane from a birch tree, taken from a birch because a birch cane is very flexible, like a whip.