AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM IN A SLUM

- Stephen Spender

MESSAGE

A clarion call to the govt, policy

makers, educationists and affluent
sections of the society to provide
opportunities to the ‘have-nots’ to the
THEME beauty and joy of education.
social injustice and
class inequalities
Poetic Devices
Metaphors
*Gusty waves - the privileged children
AN ELEMENTARY are compared to gusty waves-energetic,
Poetic Devices exuberant and forward moving
SCHOOL
*Future’s painted with a fog
Repetition- CLASSROOM IN A
*Sealed in with a lead sky
Break O break open till SLUM
they break the town *stars of words
(STEPHEN *from fog to endless night
SPENDER) wear skins peeped through by bones
Poetic Devices
let their tongues /Run naked into books…
Symbol-
Squirrel’s game - fun outdoors to escape whose language is the sun
the dull classroom
civilized dome riding all cities- cities that
show civilizational progress and
marvelous architecture
(ALSO PERSONIFICATION – riding
all cities) Poetic Devices
Open-handed map- (a map drawn Simile
arbitrarily by the people in power and the
privileged) *Like rootless weeds;
c.1) map with slums as big as doom- the *Like bottle bits on stones – (their lives are as shattered
grim reality of the lives of slum children as broken bits of scattered glass smashed on stones;)
fog- bleak and unclear *these Windows that shut upon their lives like catacombs
ships and sun- adventure and beautiful
lands offering opportunity
slag heaps- industrial waste, toxic filth
and squalor
windows –windows of the slum
classroom do not open out to
opportunities and the wide world. They
show only fog covered slums;

GIST OF THE POEM

• In this poem the poet focuses on the theme of social injustice and inequalities.
• He presents the pathetic and miserable picture of the elementary classroom in a slum.
• These children have pale and lifeless faces.
• They are like rootless weeds which are uncared and unwanted with their disorderly hair torn
around their faces.
• They are depressed and oppressed with the burdens of life and keep their heads down. They have
stunted growth.

• Some of them do have dreams. A sweet young boy is sitting at the back of the dim classroom.
He is dreaming of a squirrel’s game in the trees and probably other interesting things.
• The walls are dirty and creamy and on them are hung the donations given by the rich and also
Shakespeare’s portrait.
• A civilized dome found in the cities and Tyrolese valleys with beautiful flowers are also put up.
• The map on the wall shows the children, the beautiful world outside; but for these children of the
slum it is meaningless.
• The children studying in these schools do not have the means to go and explore the world. For
them what they see through their classroom windows, the narrow street and the lead sky is the
world.
• Shakespeare is wicked for them as he has written only about the rich, beautiful world tempting
them to steal.
• The map is of no interest to them because it does not reflect the world they live in cramped and
dark lanes.
• Their lives start in darkness and ends in utter darkness.
• They are undernourished and their poverty has distorted their vision as they spend their whole
time in foggy slums.
• The poet feels that the map which shows beautiful and exotic places should be replaced with
slums as it is not the world they live in.
• Unless the governor inspector and visitor play a vital role in bringing about a change, their lives
will remain in dark.
• The slum children will be able to peep through the window only when the gap between the two
worlds is bridged.
• They should break the barriers till they come out of the dirty surroundings and their world should
be extended into the green fields, golden sands and bright world.
• They should have the freedom of expression and their outlook be broadened.
• For, only the educated and learned people can create history whose language has strength and
power.

Theme

This poem deals with the theme of social injustice and class inequalities. The poet presents it by
talking of two different and incompatible worlds. The world of the rich and the civilized has
nothing to do with the world of the narrow lanes and cramped holes. This gap can be bridged by
the authorities.

Poetic Devices in - An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum

Metaphors
• Gusty waves - the privileged children are compared to gusty waves-energetic, exuberant
and forward moving
• Future’s painted with a fog
• Sealed in with a lead sky
• stars of words
• from fog to endless night
• wear skins peeped through by bones
• let their tongues /Run naked into books…
• whose language is the sun
Simile
• Like rootless weeds;
• Like bottle bits on stones – (their lives are as shattered as broken bits of scattered glass
smashed on stones;)
• these Windows that shut upon their lives like catacombs;
Imagery – weighed down: burdened with the weight of poverty and hopelessness

Pun –
o reciting:
• literal- the boy is reciting the lesson. Figurative – he is more prominently reciting his
father’s disease i.e. repeating his father’s disease of twisted bones and deformity which has
been passed down through generations

o sour cream:
• literal - the neglected walls have turns a dirty yellow .Figurative - a dismal place where
all dreams would turn sour
o c.lead sky-
• literal- sky polluted with industrial fumes. Figurative: A sky that does not open
opportunities but weighs down heavily blocking all escape from the slums.

Symbol-
▪ Squirrel’s game - fun outdoors to escape the dull classroom
▪ civilized dome riding all cities- cities that show civilizational progress and
marvelous architecture
o (ALSO PERSONIFICATION – riding all cities)
▪ Open-handed map- (a map drawn arbitrarily by the people in power and the
privileged)
o c.1) map with slums as big as doom- the grim reality of the lives of slum children
▪ fog- bleak and unclear
▪ ships and sun- adventure and beautiful lands offering opportunity
▪ slag heaps- industrial waste, toxic filth and squalor
▪ windows –windows of the slum classroom do not open out to opportunities
and the wide world. They show only fog covered slums;
• and if the children are not allowed to break open out of these slums the windows will close
on them burying them in endless misery, hopelessness and doom them to death-like
existence.
▪ Green fields, gold sand - nature and golden opportunities;
o white and green leaves - first- hand knowledge from pages of books and nature
o run azure- experience the rich colours of nature
 ▪ sun – symbol of enlightenment ; of equal blessing/ equality
Repetition-
o Break O break open till they break the town

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

Q1.

“Unless, governor, inspector, visitor,

This map becomes their window and these windows
That shut upon their lives like catacombs.”

(a) Why does the poet invoke ‘governor, ‘inspector’ and ‘visitor’?
The poet invokes the ‘governor, ‘inspector’ and ‘visitor’ because they are the powerful people who
can bring about a drastic change in the miserable lives of the slum children. They can remove the
social injustice and class inequalities.
(b) What does ‘this map’ refer to? How can it become ‘their window’?
This map refers to the beautiful world of the rich. Their window refers to holes and the stinking
slums of the unfortunate children of the slum. This can become their window only when the
difference between the two worlds is abridged.
(c) What have ‘these windows’ done to their lives?
These windows have cramped their lives, stunted their physical and mental growth shutting them
inside filthy and dingy holes.
(d) What do you understand by catacombs?
Catacombs are long underground graves. Here they stand for the dirty slums which block their
progress.
(e) Which literary device has been used? Explain.
Simile has been used to describe the oppressive effect of the surroundings on their
pathetic lives. The simile is: ‘these windows that shut upon their lives like catacombs.’

Q2. What do you think is the colour of ‘sour cream’? Why do you think the poet has used
this expression to describe the classroom walls?
Ans. Sour cream indicates the colour cream or dirty white. The poet has used this expression to
describe the poor dull and ill-equipped environment of the classroom. The walls were painted long
ago by donations and since then no attention has been given to them. We see the neglect these
children face. It adds to the dull ambiance.

Q3. The walls of the classroom are decorated with pictures of Shakespeare, buildings with
domes, world maps and beautiful valleys. How do these contrast with the world of these
children?
Ans. All these totally contrast with the world of the children in the slum. They get half education,
the value of education for the children is minimal and to have these pictures which are symbols of
high quality education is incongruous here. The buildings with domes are examples of a civilised
world, the world unknown to them. The world map is irrelevant to them because the slums, their
world cannot be located by them. Finally, the beautiful valley with rivers and capes is meaningless
to them. They just have the polluted sky to watch from the broken window panes. These children
are deprived of natural beauty.

Q4. What does the poet want for the children of the slums? How can their life be changed?
Ans. ‘History theirs, whose language is the sun.’ Only the educated can change the course of
history. Hence, the poet wants the children of the slums to be educated so that they are ready to
face all odds in their lives. The poet makes a frantic appeal to all the authorities to liberate these
children from the darkness of their lives and to bring light into their lives.