Part 1, Chapters 8 and 9 Summary

These chapters focus on the development of the rebellious side of Tom's character, and his ongoing conflict with Flashman.

Chapter 8 - The War of Independence: Tom starts his first full year in the company of East and several other young students who seem more interested in playing games and taunting their teachers than in concentrating on their lessons. Two incidents teach Tom the foolishness of this attitude - at one point he is caught playing in the teacher's desk, causing this teacher and several others to change their view of him from respect to wariness. The second incident is an oral examination from the Doctor, in which he physically disciplines a boy who had been just as careless in learning his lessons as Tom.

Narration reveals how Old Brooke left school, how other older boys like him (calm, steady...