Unfriendly headmaster from "summary" of The English Teacher by Rasipuram K. Narayan
The protagonist in the story is a headmaster who is seen to be unapproachable by his students. He is depicted as a man who is stern and inflexible, never compromising an inch to make his students feel comfortable. Despite this, his students feel a deep respect and admiration for him.- The headmaster was formidable - a stern, unfriendly figure to his students. He showed no understanding or sympathy which made him unpopular with many pupils.
- His presence in the school always brought tension and fear as all knew that he had zero affection for somebody who broke rules. He had strict punishments for those who didn't behave.
- Authority came naturally to him but unfortunately it spilt over into an unkindness towards those around him. Everybody wanted to avoid the headmaster whenever possible.
- Although there was some admiration for his devotion to upholding discipline, his intolerance of any rule-breaking ensured that few felt warmly towards him.
- To make matters worse, the headmaster could be quite unpredictable about his emotions and reactions, making it difficult to predict how one might be met by him on any given day.
- He hated anything that opposed his views and mostly rejected suggestions from teachers and students alike. This caused much frustration and antipathy.
- He demanded respect but often mistreated those whom he was supposed to lead. People would rarely hear words of appreciation from him, only endless criticism.
- He exerted a strange power over people who struggled to speak out against him due to his domineering character.
