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>> Yes John 'Spud' Milton is 13 years old when the novel >> opens. He turns 14 part way through the novel and his >> birthday prank is to have black shoe polish rubbed on >> his genitals. > >I remember reading some advertising blurb for the >second book (or maybe the second movie) that in it >Spud is "14 years old and soon to be 15 years old, but >still with no noticeable signs of puberty". I can >empathise lol. > >> Spud describes Gecko and Vern as 'two easier victims >> than me'. > >It really is a total Lord of the Flies situation, that >the only way to avoid being constantly victimised as >the underdog (or smallest/weakest/most timid boy in >the school or house or year), is to find someone, or >two people, that are even more underdogs than he is! > >> Spud first introduces Gecko: >> On the way down the stairs we pass the whitest human >> being I have ever seen. In the dim light of the >> stairway, his paleness creates a strange luminous >> light... > >aha so the casting of Jamie Royal as Gecko was >deliberate lol. > >> Thanks to >> this sickly looking dude I escaped being the smallest >> boy in the house. > >There's that theme again - you're OK so long as >there's at least one person smaller (or easier to pick >on) than you are. > >> Gavin is often described >> as the weird prefect that lives under the stairs and >> has unusual pets > >I like these bizarre touches. I wonder if some of them >are based on things John van der Ruit experienced for >real when he was at the school. > >> A dark part >> of NZ and South African history is the 1981 Springbok >> Tour - protests against the Springbok tour because of >> the Apartheid. My grandfather walked in the protests >> with his motorcycle helmet - police hit protesters >> with their batons. > >Wow! It's fascinating to think of the first Spud book >being set nine years later - with Mandela being >released from prison but still condemned as a criminal >or terrorist by UK and USA governments. And then >before Spud even finished school, the end of Apartheid >and Mandela becoming President. > >> At high school we were >> in four houses (called them canoes - waka). > >That's actually quite clever cos I guess proper >Polynesian war canoes could be massive and carry up to >80 people. I bet the teachers made lots of cheesy >comments about rowing a canoe being a team effort and >how it can only work if everyone pulls together and >things like that :D > >> athletics day and spirit week boys would face off >> against other canoes performing a haka. We also had >> haka practices. Girls would sit on the floor and >> watch. Female teachers walked around spreading the >> boys out so no one was hiding and everyone was seen. >I >> hated haka practices. In my second year of Uni I had >a >> flatmate that went to an all boys school and they had >> regular haka practices and they had to take their >> shirts off for haka practice. > >wow it's all a bit weird really :) > >> Pike the school bully is a third year boy. > >I had misremembered that part slightly. I guess that >makes Pike 15 turning 16 at the start of the first >book. Which makes it really nasty for him and his >friends to be bullying Spud who was only 13. I >remember when I read the first book I really really >really hated Pike lol > >(Earthworm, prefect) >> Despite savagely beating Spud's fingers with the >> blackboard dusters he is quite protective of Spud. > >This is the kind of weird part that because he has the >power and privilege to punish and bully Spud himself, >he doesn't think anyone else should be allowed to. > >> Witnessed my first beating during Afrikaans class. > >For those unfamiliar - this is a language very similar >to Dutch, not an African language of any sort. Another >reflection of the weird colonial background to the >school. Michaelhouse school is located in the province >of KwaZulu-Natal, which has a long complicated >history. Zulu then Boer then British then Boer then >Zulu again, or something like that. > >In checking this I discovered where John van der Ruit >possibly got the name "Luthuli" from. "Albert John >Luthuli was a South African anti-apartheid activist, >traditional leader, and politician who served as the >President-General of the African National Congress >from 1952 until his murder in 1967. Inspired by his >Christian faith and the nonviolent methods used by >Gandhi, Luthuli was praised for his dedication to >nonviolent resistance against apartheid as well as his >vision of a non-racial South African society. In 1961, >Luthuli was awarded the 1960 Nobel Peace Prize (the >first non-white person ever to receive it) for his >role in leading the nonviolent anti-apartheid >movement. Luthuli's supporters brand him as a global >icon of peace similar to Gandhi and Martin Luther King >Jr, the latter of whom was a follower and admirer of >Luthuli." > >> finally drove Mr van Vuuren >> over the edge and he gave him a furious beating of >two >> lashes with a sawn-off hockey stick in front of the >> class. I found the whole experience shocking > >This is another episode that's so bizarre that I think >it's almost certainly based on something that John van >der Ruit witnessed for real in his early days at the >school when he was 13.
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