Chapter 8 Summary and Analysis

Near the end of his schooling at Charterhouse, Graves entered the school boxing competition and won 1st prize in both the welter- and middle-weight divisions, posting several knock-out victories and impressing the other students with his physical ability. At roughly the same time, Graves developed an amorous but not physically erotic relationship with a younger student whom he refers to as Dick; a relationship he was teased and hazed about. Ordered to break off the friendship by schoolteachers and the Headmaster, Graves refused (his amorous attraction to Dick would last through distant scandal until about 1919). In his final year at school, Graves functioned as an assistant editor of two school literary magazines, including The Carthusian. Graves also met the famous mountaineer George Mallory, then a young schoolmaster at Charterhouse. The two men formed a lasting friendship.

During Graves' final year at...