A Question of Upbringing Summary

As the story opens, Nick Jenkins is staring into a fire. He reverts to memories of school and says that looking back he can see the associations of seemingly unconnected people and events that came together to make his life. One day Jenkins is walking along when he encounters a young man, a fellow student, named Widmerpool. He is running in an effort to become an athlete with some particular team and Jenkins notes that Widmerpool runs daily. Widmerpool is somewhat older than Jenkins and Jenkins knows details about Widmerpool mostly through stories that are passed down to him. They live in the same house at school. Widmerpool is often alone and Jenkins says that even when he is with a group, he seems somehow separate. It is about this time that someone points out that a...