The Adventures of Roderick Random

Uncle’s Generosity

On the way back to the village, Uncle Bowling remained silent for an hour, whistling continuously while wearing a stern expression. He then hurried ahead before stopping to demand the narrator keep pace. Despite his gruff manner, his good nature prevailed as he announced the schoolmaster was “in hell” and offered to take the boy to sea with him, quoting a sailor’s song about fortune. However, when the school usher interjected that it would be a pity to waste the boy’s genius, Uncle Bowling generously resolved to provide a university education instead, covering board and expenses at a nearby town famous for its colleges.

Schoolmaster’s Brutality

Before their departure day, the schoolmaster no longer restrained himself now that the grandfather was deceased. He abused the narrator with gross language, calling him a wicked, profligate, dull, beggarly miscreant taught out of charity. Most grievously, the master bitterly reviled the memory of Judge Random, who had actually arranged his settlement, hinting the old gentleman was damned for not paying for the narrator’s education.

Project of Revenge

This brutal treatment convinced the narrator it was time for revenge. With loyal allies Jeremy Gawky and Hugh Strap committed to stand by him, they plotted: when the usher went out at four o’clock, the narrator would shut the great door to prevent his assistance, then spit in the master’s face. Gawky and Strap would drag the tyrant to a bench and birch him thoroughly. If outnumbered, they would call on competitors for support. Gawky owed the narrator for saving his life from drowning and repeatedly rescuing him from consequences through performing his exercises. Strap’s devotion stemmed from saving the narrator’s life at his own risk and suffering punishments in the narrator’s place. Both planned to leave school the next day—Gawky returning to his father, Strap to apprentice with a barber.