Chapter 7 Summary and Analysis

As Graves progressed through the forms at Charterhouse, his situation slowly improved because, as an older boy, he was less often physically harassed. He was socially isolated and treated poorly by most students and reacted by further deliberately withdrawing from the social sphere. His fortune changed, however, when he met Raymond Rodakowski, a fellow student, at an informal poetry club. Raymond encouraged Graves to take up boxing as an alternative to other sports, noting that the school's football players were afraid of boxers. Graves took up boxing and was generally left alone thereafter.

The remainder of the chapter is devoted to a tedious recounting of a prolonged school incident involving a conflict between the school's football club and the debate society. The football club was held in universal esteem but the older and wiser debate society members took umbrage at their...