Choose one of the teachers in the History boys.

Choose one of the teachers in the History boys. What are their views about education? Explain using quotations and reference to linguistic techniques.

The first time Hector is introduced to the audience, he arrives to school ‘in motor cycle leathers and helmet’. This shows that hector does not follow or conform to the stereotypical role of what a teacher should act and dress like, which also gives the audience an insight to what an abstract take Hector may have on teaching. His appearance reflects his way of teaching in fact, which also does not follow the rules.

Hector is described by the writer as a quite guarded character, because nobody (except a close colleague Mrs Lintott) really knows who he is. The first interaction Hector has is with his students, and their conversations are all in French, he also often speaks in quotations or references when asked a question and this could all suggest that he hides behind language in order to not show his true self. He is very evasive and doesn’t actually answer the question most times, and his lessons are centered on teaching the boys about life. He believes that ‘all knowledge is precious, whether or not it serves the slightest human use’, which basically is his well worded excuse for not wanting to teach the boys things for the exam. He believes that if he was ever ‘entrusted with the time table’ it would be ‘a waste of time.’

Alan Bennett repeats the idea of nakedness throughout the first scene, with references to ‘stripping down’, this could have been done to relate to Hectors insecurities about his real self, and why he might not want to reveal it to anyone. We later find out that he is a paedophile, and this first scene could be foreshadowing the shame that is going to be brought on to his character later on in the play. In the first part of the scene, he tries to use guilt as a way to stop the boys from wanting to go to oxford. He says to them “forget oxford and Cambridge. Why do you want to go there?” In a way, he seems hurt. This shows that he allows his emotions to cloud and make his judgements which is very unprofessional and portrays some immaturity in him, as he wants it to be about him and what he wants, not about the prospect of the boys’ future.    

By translating the second half of Hectors first lesson, we can start to understand his peculiar ways of teaching. Hector does not have lesson plans, he tends to just ‘see how it goes’ in a sense and this scene shows his clear disregard for boundaries, as he lets his lesson unfold in to a crude spontaneous play of a ‘masion de passe’. Although he does not have the intentions to let them create a play on this, he doesn’t reprimand Dakin; instead he opens the topic up in to even more detail. This shows Hectors selfish side, as he is only really doing it for his own personal enjoyment. When the acting gets a little out of hand, instead of telling the boys off, he simply lets it carry on. We can infer from this scene that Hector doesn’t really care about the boys doing well in their future exams, and that he kind of just lives in the moment and prefers ‘fun’ over actual learning.