Dr Blimber Education
Education at Doctor Blimber's is a very serious affair. His austere academic approach is shown quite vibrantly during Paul's first dinner in the house, when Doctor Blimber attempts to lecture the boys after they have finished eating and punishes a boy that coughs and interrupts his lecture several times with a verbal exam he schedules for the next day. Paul is assigned so many books that "although [he] put one hand under the bottom book and his other hand and his chin on the top book, and hugged them all closely, the middle book slipped out before he reached the door, and then they all tumbled down to the floor" (172). The boys spend hours upon hours studying, to such an extent that Paul imagines that "it was a wonder that the great clock in
the hall, instead of being constant to its first enquiry, never said, 'Gentlemen, we will now resume our studies,' for that phrase was often enough repeated in its neighborhood" (173). The boys are also expected to take care of themselves, preparing them for adulthood, and this self-reliance a new expectation for young Paul. "Poor Paul couldn't dress himself easily, not being used to it" (170).
the hall, instead of being constant to its first enquiry, never said, 'Gentlemen, we will now resume our studies,' for that phrase was often enough repeated in its neighborhood" (173). The boys are also expected to take care of themselves, preparing them for adulthood, and this self-reliance a new expectation for young Paul. "Poor Paul couldn't dress himself easily, not being used to it" (170).