AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM IN A SLUM

- By STEPHEN SPENDER

THEME: Social injustice and class inequalities

Main Points
Stanza-1
 The poem portrays a picture of an elementary school in a slum area.
 Deprived of basic facilities such as-nutritional food, balanced diet, air, sunshine and
potable water, children are least interested in studies
 The tall girl and paper seeming boy-all are victims of malnutrition; they are suffering
from various diseases
 A boy sitting at the back is dreaming of squirrel's game. He has no interest in class-room
activity.
Stanza-2
 The class-room wall contains pictures and paintings -like Shakespeare's head developed
cities with skyscrapers Tyrolese valley aesthetically beautiful, problem free world
(cloudless at dawn)-they came by donations.
 These pictures belong to the world of the rich and prosperous.
 The world of these poor and deprived children contrasts with the world depicted on
classroom walls.
 The rich have drawn an open handed map which is of no use to them as their world is
limited to the end of the street.
 Far from rivers, capes and stars of words, their future is bleak and uncertain.
Stanza-3
 Shakespeare is wicked and map a bad example as they do not correspond to their limited,
narrow world.
 Ships and Sun depicted on the wall tempt them to experience the world of the rich with
all its glory.
 However, they cannot get this opportunity as the responsible people do not want it.
 These malnourished children wearing mended glasses oscillate between fog and endless
night, having uncertain life with no future.
 They pass all their time and space in the hell (the slum). This hell is a blot on the civilized
world.
Stanza-4
 The poet calls upon governor, inspector and visitor (representing power and position) to
review the system before it is too late.
 The revised system should empower these children to break away from the shackles of
poverty and deprivation.
 He urges the civilized people to help them enjoy all the facilities such as blue-sky, sun
shine, sea-waves, fresh air, good and sufficient nutritious diet.
 Let the pages of wisdom be open for them and their tongues may run freely on the white
leaves of books.
 Only those people find a place in history whose language has the warmth and power of
the sun.
Detailed Explanation: (stanza 1)
 The opening stanza of "An Elementary School Classroom in a Slum" provides a clear,
dreary depiction of the students in the classroom. The opening line of the poem uses an
image to contrast the slum children‟s faces with those of others. The image used is „gusty
waves‟ indicating brightness, verve and animation. But these are missing from faces of
these children.
 The next image of „rootless weeds‟ produces double effect. „Weeds‟ indicate being
unwanted and „rootless‟ indicates not belonging. The slum children are like „rootless
weeds‟ unwanted by society and not belonging to society. Their uncombed hair fall on
their pale faces.
 The first child is a "tall girl with a weighed-down head." This girl is physically and
emotionally exhausted, as if all life has been dredged from her body and sapped from her
mind. Her classmates are in no better condition.
 "The paper-seeming boy, with rat's eyes" is paper-thin and weak. His eyes are defensive
and scared, like a scavenger, a rat. His eyes might be searching for food like rats‟ eyes
do. His prospect for survival, let alone success, is bleak.
 Another student, "the stunted, unlucky heir / Of twisted bones," is the victim of a genetic
disorder. Spender writes that the boy has inherited his "father's gnarled disease"; he has
been left disfigured, trapped in a physically challenged body. Spender has used the word
„reciting‟ to show that in addition of studying/reciting the lesson, the boy shows/recites
his inherited crippling disease in the class
 Spender then describes the boy "at back of the dim class," stating, "His eyes live in a
dream." This last student represents both a glimmer of hope, has lost his mind to the
"squirrel's game." There is little or no expectation that they will succeed, and the best
they can hope for is to keep their sanity and not fall victim to a faux reality. Beneath it
all, the boy's dreaming eyes may harbor an honest desire for true success.

Stanza 2

 In the second stanza, Spender describes the classroom and its contents. The classroom is
full of "donations." The children are from the lowest class; The classroom is constructed
through donations of others' capital. All that the students possess comes from the charity
of the bourgeoisie. The maps, books, and "Shakespeare's head" that give the students
hope of something outside their dreary existences are gifts from the very hands that
clamp them down in their economic and social position.
 .The "donations" may give a glimpse of some world to the students, but not of their
world. The students do not perceive their world as like the one depicted in the
classroom's "donations." „Cloudless dawn‟ and „civilized dome‟ suggest the monotonous
life in the slum. These slums are surrounded by the civilized city and the children cannot
experience the beauty of the sky at dawn and are unaware of it. All around them are
concrete structures of the cities. The life in the slum contrasts with the cloudless sky at
dawn and concrete structures which override the cities.
 Contradicting their state and the slum children are Shakespeare‟s head indicating
erudition, the picture of a clear sky at dawn and a beautiful Tyrolese valley indicating
beauty of nature and hope, dome of an ancient city building standing for civilization and
progress and a world map awarding the children the world. There is also a picture of a
 beautiful valley full of sweet fragrant flowers and these children of the slum will never be
able to experience this beauty. They are deprived of this beauty as they are condemned to
live in the slums amidst garbage.
 The „open-handed map‟ in the classroom contrasts with their world. The world given to
us by god is full of all the bounties whereas the world of these slum children is full of
poverty and hunger. The world which they see is not the real world. Their world is
confined to the narrow, dusty streets of the slum.
 The map in the classroom gives them hopes and aspirations and motivates them to
explore the world but they will never be able to achieve that world. These children can
get the glimpse of the outside world from the windows and it is far beyond their reach.
They are far away from nature. These slum children have a bleak and foggy future in
store for them. „Their future is painted with a fog‟ – it is blurred by hopelessness. There
is no hope for the slum children. Instead of the normal blue sky they live under the „lead
sky‟ – dark and dull, polluted – shows there is no hope for them. The atmosphere hints at
their monotonous life and the slum children remain confined throughout their lives
confined to the filth and dirt of the narrow slum streets. They are away from the glory of
natural beauty of the rivers, mountains, stars …
 The lines “Open-handed map / Awarding the world its world” could refer to the map of
the world hanging on the wall of the classroom giving/showing (awarding) everyone (the
world) the world out there to explore and know (its world). But the world of the slum
children is the limited world that can be seen though the windows of the classroom and
not what the map promises. To these children the window which opens to them only
shows a grey sky and a foggy future which never changes. Their future is bleak,
unknown, and dreary. Their life/world is confined within the narrow streets of the slum
enclosed by the dull sky far away from rivers, seas that indicate adventure and learning
and from the stars that stand for words that can empower their future. 'Lead sky' means a
dull sky or a dimly lit sky. It suggests pollution and burden of industrial world.

Stanza 3

 The children of the slum are fighting the battle of life unarmed. They are troubled by
disease and despair. For them Shakespeare is „wicked‟ and „map‟ a bad example‟. The
literary excellence of Shakespeare and the scenic beauty portrayed in the map cannot
relieve them from their despair. For these slum children, literary excellence is a far-
fetched thing and hence seems wicked.
 The map on the wall gives them false aspirations as it makes them aware of the beautiful
world given by god. The world of these children is confined to the narrow streets of the
slums. Therefore, map is „a bad example‟.
 The „ship‟, „sun‟ and „love‟ symbolize joy and happiness which these children are
deprived of. Their only experience is that of hunger and poverty. To reach out to the
world beyond, these children are sometimes tempted to adopt wrong means even stealing
to fulfill their dreams. Therefore, Shakespeare is wicked.
 These slum children live in cramped holes, striving and struggling for survival in the
small, dirty rooms from „fog to endless night‟ - from foggy mornings till long endless
nights, trying to make both ends meet. They live in unhealthy, filthy holes.
  „Slyly turn‟ – secretly turn around in their cramped holes trying to spend endless nights.
The slum children live on „slag heaps‟ – piles of waste material after metal has been
extracted from rock. Their world is full of dirt and garbage and they spend their life
raking these „slag heaps‟.
 The children „wear skins peeped through by bones‟ – they are very weak and
undernourished. They look like skeletons as their bones peep through their thin skin.
 They wear „spectacles of steel with mended glass‟ – discarded spectacles by the rich,
mended (repaired) and worn.
 Their life is like „bottle bits on stones – shattered and broken like bits of bottle on a stone.
They are deprived of even the basic amenities of life. Their world is comprised of the
foggy slums where they live nightmares. Slums are the reality for these children, their
home, where they spend their life. For them life is worse than death. These slums are
stalking the world just like death stalks victims anytime anywhere.
 The maps displayed in their classroom are no reality for them. They cannot locate their
slum in that map. It is urgently required to give these slum inhabitants means and
opportunities to lead a dignified and civilized life and bolt out these slums.

Stanza 4

 Spender comes full circle. He replaces pessimism with hope, a plea for a new proposal
for the children. He is petitioning "governor, inspector, visitor" to all to join hands in
order to educate and uplift these children...
 The elementary school in the slum exists for name sake. The infrastructure is poor with
hardly any serious teaching. The school springs in activity only when a governor, a
school inspector or a visitor comes on a round of the school. The administrative
machinery of the school also gears up at that time.
 Then the map becomes their window from where they can see the world beyond their
slums. Since they are confined to the slums, these sights and glimpses are shut upon them
as they are deprived of all opportunities and means.
 Their lives are shut up in the cemeteries of these slums where they slither and slog to
make both ends meet. „These windows shut upon their lives like catacombs‟. (Catacombs
are underground tunnels used for burying dead people)
 He uses the words „Break o break open‟ to say that they have to break out from the
miserable hopeless life of the slum world so that they can wander beyond the slums and
their town on to the green fields and golden sands (indicating the unlimited world).
 Spender further hopes that the children will be able to "let their tongues / Run naked into
books the white and green leaves open." If these children get the opportunity like other
children get, their world can also they get a good education they can spread the light and
awareness to all. Thus eradicating poverty and darkness.
 „Break O break open till they break the town‟ – This suggests that the poet hopes that
these children will break free from their morbid life, from the chains of the slums. He
appeals to those in power to liberate these children from the miserable slums and enable
them to breathe in the fresh, beautiful and healthy environment away from the foggy
slums. They should be able to bask in the open green fields and let them run free on the
golden sands. Their world should not be confined to the horrendous and gory slums.
  The poet visualizes freedom for these children. He wants a carefree life where they get
economic and social justice, where they have the right to be happy. These slum children
should be able to enjoy the fundamental right of education otherwise their lives will be
miserable and unfulfilled without the world of books. They should be able to learn not
from the books alone but also from the world, the nature around them.
 The poet ends on a note of positivity and wants opportunities to be available to these
children. The people who strive for knowledge are the ones who create history. The ones
who are let free are the ones who will create history. People who outshine others, who
glow like the sun, who break free from the constraints of their restricted life are the ones
who create history.

POETIC DEVICES:

SIMILE
 like rootless weeds
untidy and unkempt hair of the slum children, children lack proper nutrition, unwanted
like weeds
 like bottle bits on stones
slum children sitting on the slag heap look like the bits and pieces of glass shattered
against a stone, their hopes, aspirations, ambitions and lives also lie shattered and
neglected.
 like catacombs
slum children dwell in dark and dingy rooms which resemble catacombs. The windows of
these rooms look like the lids of catacombs.
 slums as big as dooms
Slums where life is worse than death. It is like living in a hell.

METAPHOR
 rat‟s eyes
Suggests boy‟s timidity and anxiety, timid like a rat and searches for food and security.
 future‟s painted with a fog
just as fog blurs one‟s vision in winters, the slum children‟s future is blurred by
hopelessness and lack of empathy.
 lead sky
lead sky is dark and dull, just as the metal whereas the sky is normally bright. There is no
hope for the slum children.
 spectacles of steel
- suggests that some slum children are wearing spectacles made of steel, having
shattered, chipped or scratched glass.
Pun
reciting:
a) 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
sour cream: literal - the neglected walls have turns a dirty yellow.Figurative - a dismal place
where all dreams would turn sour
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.

Imagery
 Gusty waves
 Rootless weeds
 Paper-seeming boy
 Sour-cream wall
 Squirrel’s game - fun outdoors to escape the dull classroom
 civilized dome riding all cities- cities that show civilizational progress and marvelous
architecture (ALSO PERSONIFICATION – riding all cities)
 Open-handed map- (a map drawn arbitrarily by the people in power and the privileged)
 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;
 white and green leaves - first- hand knowledge from pages of books and nature
 run azure- experience the rich colours of nature
 sun – symbol of enlightenment ; of equal blessing/ equality

 Repetition-

Break O break open till they break the town

SHORT ANSWERS
Q. 1. What does the poet wish for the children of the slums?
Ans. The poet wishes that the children of slums would come out of their dull, drab surroundings.
They should share the bright, healthy and spacious surroundings of the rich and the civilized.

Q. 2. What is the message that Stephen Spender wants to give through the poem 'An
Elementary School Classroom In a Slum'?
Ans. In 'An Elementary School Classroom In a Slum', Stephen Spender deals with the theme of
social injustice and class inequalities. There are two different worlds. Art, culture and literature
have no relevance to slum children. They live in dark, narrow cramped, holes and lanes. Unless
the gap between the two worlds is abridged, there can't be any real progress or development. The
children will have to be made mentally and physically free to lead happy lives.

Q. 3. Why does Stephen Spender use the images of despair and disease in the first stanza of
the poem, and with what effect?
Ans. Similes and metaphors are used to describe despair and disease in the first stanza. He uses
them to describe the miserable and pathetic life of the slums. The slum children have been
described as 'the stunted, unlucky heirs of twisted bones'. They are like 'rootless weeds'. Their
faces, are pale and lifeless. The burden of life makes them sit with their heads 'weighed down'.

Q. 4. This poem was written against the background of the Second World War. But Spender
doesn't describe the lives of generals or heroes but of the poor children of slums. Why and how
does he do so?
Ans. The poem has been written against the background of the Second World War. Instead of
writing about war heroes and generals, Spender highlights the social injustice. He talks of two
worlds. Both of them are incompatible. There is the world of the rich. It has nothing to do with
the world of narrow lanes and cramped holes. The other is the world of slum children.

Q. 5. Crushed under poverty, disease and miseries do the little school children of slums
have any dreams or hopes? What are they?
Ans. The children living in slums have to live in most miserable and sub-human conditions. The
burden of poverty and disease crushes their bodies. They still have dreams. Their future is foggy
and uncertain. They have kept their hopes alive. They dream of open seas and green fields. They
dream of about the games that a squirrel plays on the trees.
Q. 6. The poet says: 'And yet, for these children, these windows, not this world, are
‘world'. What is the real world for them and which is not for them?
Ans. The conquerors and dictators can change the map of the world at will. But their 'map' and
world is not the world of slum children. Their world is the world of stinking slums. Narrow lanes
and dark cramped holes make their world. Their world is not the world of 'domes', 'bells' and
'flowers'. Their world is the world of poverty and disease.

Q. 7. 'So blot their maps with slums as big as doom'. Why does the poet express such an angry
protest?
Ans. The civilized world has drawn its own map. This world has been separated from the world
of slums. The dirty slums with their narrow lanes and cramped holes are little hells. The poet
protests against social injustice and class inequalities.
Q. 8. What should governors, teachers, inspectors and other important and powerful
persons do to improve the lot of children living in slums?
Ans. Two worlds exist. They are quite opposite and incompatible to each other. The gap between
them must be abridged. Governors, teachers and powerful persons can play an important role in
it. They can help in removing social injustice and class inequalities. They must bring them out of
their ugly and dirty surroundings. All good things of life, the sea, the sun and the fields should be
within their easy reach.
Q. 9. 'History is theirs whose language is the sun'. Justify the veracity of this statement.
Ans. Stephen Spender concludes the poem with a beautiful metaphor. 'History is theirs whose
language is the sun'. This world is not ruled by the dumb and driven people. Only those who
speak with confidence, power and authority are heard and obeyed. Their language must have the
warmth and power of the sun.

Q. 10. Describe the devices used by Stephen Spender in the poem to create the desired
poetic effect.
Ans. In 'An Elementary School Classroom In a Slum' the poet uses modern imagery. He employs
similes, metaphors and contrasts as poetic devices to create the desired effect. 'Open-handed
map' and 'slag-heap' are modern images. They are conveyed through very effective metaphors.
The faces and hair of children in slums are like 'rootless weeds'. Their spectacles are like 'bits
(chips) of stones'. The use of similes has been done judiciously.

REFERENCE TO CONTEXT
.1. Far far from gusty waves these children‟s faces…………………..
………………………Of squirrel‟s game, in tree room, other than this.

Q1 Why is the head of the tall girl “weighed down”?

Ans. The head of the tall girl is weighed down because her life is burdened with
poverty , difficulties and responsibilities. Probably she is feeling depressed, ill and exhausted.

Q2. What do you understand by “The paper-seeming boy, with rat‟s eyes”?
Ans. The phrase “paper seeming boy” suggests that the boy is very thin and emaciated because
of undernourishment. His eyes are compared to those of rats because his eyes are timid and
searching for food and security like the eyes of a rat are.

Q3 Who is the “unlucky heir and what has he inherited?

Ans The underdeveloped boy who is reading the lesson from his desk is referred to as “unlucky
heir”. He has inherited twisted bones from his father. Along with his disease, he has inherited his
poverty.

Q4. Whose „eyes live in a dream‟ and what is his dream about?
Ans. A sweet young boy sitting at the back of the class is referred to here. He dreams of playing
like a squirrel in the lap of nature rather than sitting in small, dim and dingy classroom.

2. Belled, flowery, Tyrolese valley. Open-handed map

Awarding the world its world
............................ and yet for these children, these windows
not this map, their world, where all their future‟s painted with a fog.
A narrow street sealed in with lead sky far far from rivers,
capes and stars of words
Q1. What do the classroom walls have?
Ans. The walls of the classroom have a portrait of Shakespeare, pictures of building with domes,
sunrise and beautiful alpine valley, and world map.

Q2. Why does the poet refer to the Tyrolese valley in these lines?
Ans. The beautiful Tyrolese valley is in sharp contrast to dim and dingy slums. The life of slum
children is far removed from the life represented in the photograph of Alpine valley as they never
get to enjoy the natural beauty of the mountains and the flowery valley.

Q3.What is the future of these children?

Ans. The future of these children is bleak and uncertain.

Q4. What are the narrow street and lead sky indicative of?
Ans. Narrow streets are indicative of restricted and confined lives of slum children. Lead sky
signifies dullness, dreariness and despair invading the lives of the slum dwellers.

Q5. Who are these children? What is their world like?

(These children are poor and deprived children - slum school, dismal, impoverished world,
authorities - apathetic unfair)

3. Surely, Shakespeare is wicked, the map a bad example…………………..

………………………………..So blot their maps with slums as big as doom

Q1 Why is Shakespeare described as wicked?

– no correlation between Shakespeare‟s works and the life of the slum children
– classic literature of Shakespeare beyond the understanding of slum children
– beautiful world depicted by Shakespeare is denied to the slum children
- Arouses the desire among the students to taste the joy of higher education, which for them
seems to be unattainable.

Q2 What does the reference to 'slag heap' mean?

– miserable condition of the slum children / unhygienic conditions / extreme poverty / waste /
rejected / neglected / considered useless

Q3.Why is the map a bad example?

Ans. The map is a bad example as it gives the children an idea of viewing vast and bountiful
world, which for them is a distant dream. In order to fulfil their desires and aspirations they
adopt illegal ways.

Q4.How does the poet describe their present condition in these lines?
Ans. The slum children live in dingy, unhygienic holes which they call homes. They lead
miserable and pathetic lives devoid of hope.
Q5.Explain:“from fog to endless night.”
Ans. “Fog” stands for obscurity and uncertainty and “endless night” signifies endless darkness
and misery. The phrase means that slum children have no hope of progress and prosperity. They
simply exist in their cramped holes stumbling from one despair to another.

Q6. How are the children described in these lines?

Ans. Children wear torn clothes and their bones often protrude from them. Even their glasses
they wear are repaired ones, as they cannot afford new ones.

Q7 Which two images are used to describe the slums?

-Slag heap
-foggy slums
-slums as big as doom (any two)

Q8 What sort of life do these children lead?

-dirty / unhygienic / miserable / pathetic / full of woes and wants -Uncertain future / blotted / life
of disease and despair. -Impoverished / poor/ bones peeping through skins -spectacles of mended
glass/ their time and space are foggy (any one)

Q9 Which figure of speech is used in the last line?

Simile- with slums as big as doom

4. “Unless, governor, inspector, visitor,

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

Q1Why 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.

Q2 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.

Q3 What do you understand by catacombs?

Catacombs are long underground graves. Here they stand for the dirty slums which block their
progress.

Q4 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.‟

5. Break O break open till they break the town

And show the children to green fields, and make their world
Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues
Run naked into books the white and green leaves open
History theirs whose language is the sun.

Q1To whom does 'they' refer?

refers to governor, inspector, visitors

Q2 What would they break?

break the mental and physical barriers / break boundaries of discrimination

Q3What other freedom should they enjoy?

– free and happy life away from slum

– freedom to education
-Freedom of speech and expression so as to become responsible citizens and powerful speakers
– freedom to explore the world / gold sand / green fields
– opportunity to prosper)

Q4 What is expected of the governor, inspector and visitor?

Ans. The governor, inspector and the visitor need to take appropriate steps to break the barriers
that stand in the way of the progress of the slum children. They need to release the children from
poverty, get them educated and give them opportunity to experience the beauty of the world.

Q5 What are the windows doing in their lives at present?

Ans The windows offering the view of dirty surroundings have cramped their lives and blocked
their mental and physical development. They have shut the children inside the drab holes like the
dead bodies are shut in underground graves.

Q6.What is meant by white and green leaves?

White and green leaves refer to the colourful pages of the book which the poet wishes to provide
to the students.

Q7. „History theirs whose language is the sun‟. Explain.

This statement means that those who have the power and confidence in speech to influence
others create history. One can make a mark only if one can outshine others. Education only
can give them power and strength like the sun which will bring about a change in the lives of the
people.