What impression do you form of Joseph Richard Barclay?
The young student Gervase Phinn meets, Joseph Richard Barclay intrigues Phinn as he calls Joseph his companion which shows Phinns interest in Joseph and his respect towards him as if he was a grown up. We are also impressed by the fact Joseph introduces himself like a grown up by shaking Phinns hand.
The fact that Joseph speaks in an old fashioned manner and uses sophisticated words like “Perished” and “skirmished” is unusual for an eleven year old which gives us the impression that he is not ordinary like the rest of his classmates. Joseph’s language is inappropriate for a boy of his age he not only speaks in an outdated and mature way but his language is more like a teachers way of speaking as he says he has to “collect the register” like a teacher does. Also he uses old phrases like “hale and hearty” and “ship-shape” which shows he is organised ,speaks oddly and he his behind his times, and the fact that he is the only child that does not speak the dale dialect indicates his uniqueness and his inferiority over the other children.
