‘The Loneliness of Long Distance Runner’ is a novella
by Alan Sillitoe, who was one of the so called ‘angry young men’ of the
1950s. It is the story of Smith, a poor
Nottingham teenager from a dismal home in a working-class area, who has bleak
cheerless prospects in life and few interest beyond petty crime. When he is caught by the police for robbing a
bakery, Smith is sentenced to be confined in Ruxton towers in Essex, a Borstal
(prison school) for delinquent youths. There the boy turns to long distance
running as a method of both emotional and physical escape from his situation.
There
are no real characters in the story, but Smith tells us in three parts about a number
of people who have influenced him or with whom he has a good relationship. In the first part he talks about his life in
borstal. The headmaster of Borstal, who
is called Governor, asks Smith to train in long distance running and compete a
tournament between Borstal and other boy’s home with the aim of winning the
Blue-Ribbon Prize cup. And so every
morning Smith runs for miles, which he finds liberating and a good time to
think. Though Smith tries to be a good
kid and intending to win Borstal a long-distance award, inwardly he feels he is
at war with the governor and in-laws.
According to him all the people who abide by the law are in-laws and the
people born to steal, lie and break rules like him are out-laws. So, he decides to lose the race on purpose to
show the governor he is a human being and not just a racehorse to bet on. As he is an out-law, he has a criminal nature. So, he believes when he is acting as a
criminal, he is being an honest person, to his mind. But the in-laws like the governor and other
policemen behave in dishonest ways, that is, ways contrary to their
nature. The governor wants Smith to
promise to be an ‘honest’ person when he gets out of Borstal. He believes he can nurture Smith and other
boys to become honest men. To Smith this
is dishonest to become someone else for the sake of others. He believes that being honest is being true
to one’s principles.
The
second part deals with the events that have led to Smith’s being in the
Borstal. Smith’s dad whom he considers
as a paragon of honesty, died from the cancer of the throat. His dad’s company gave the family a large
amount of money as a bereavement payment.
His mother bought a television which Smith enjoyed a lot. One day Smith and his best pal Mike happened
to see an open window at a baker’s store.
They decided to rob. Mike hoisted
Smith on his shoulders to climb the wall.
They stole a money box from the bakery.
They hid the money in a drainpipe near Smith’s door and took a little
out at a time. Though Smith’s mother was
of the opinion that Smith wasn’t capable of such robbery, suspicion fell on
Smith for robbery. Policeman questioned
him and searched the house many times.
Smith who was calm and unafraid of the policeman, lied easily and
frustrated the cop with smart reply.
When he came again, it was pouring rain.
Smith purpose fully didn’t ask him to come inside as he secretly wanted
the cop to catch cold and die. When
Smith was being interviewed on the Porch, the rain forced a couple of money bills
up from the drainpipe. Smith was caught
red handed then with the stolen money.
However, only Smith was brought to Borstal.
The
third part again deals with the race. We
see Smith who confronts temptation as the governor talks about the prospect of
material wealth and social status that his running can give him. Though he pretends to be eager to win the
race, he simply rejects the temptation.
He also briefly considers running away from the Borstal but later
decides to enjoy the pleasure of witnessing the governor’s disappointment and
humiliation. So, he lies to the governor
that he would like to be a professional athlete when he grows up. The race begins. He knows he can easily win the race. In the end stretch of the race, in a place
where the governor and Borstal boys can see him, he purposely stalls and runs
very slowly. He waits until another
racer passes him and has only a second-place finish. The disappointed governor makes Smith do back-breaking
chores for the rest of his six-months stay.
But Smith enjoys his defeating the governor. However, he earns the respect of the other Borstal
boys who know well that he threw the race.
Now a
young man, Smith tells the reader that he was relieved from Borstal and was
excused from joining the army because he developed pleurisy while running and
training at Borstal. Smith has just
pulled a big robbery and has an idea for an even bigger one. He has written this story and given it to a
friend, so in case he is caught, the friend will give it to the governor to
show him what has happened to Smith and how ineffective his rehabilitation
efforts are. Thus, Smith wants to prove
the world that rehabilitation becomes impossible and thus the principle of
reforming young delinquents in Borstal and the governor as Borstal’s head
master is a sort of lie is a really a make believe story. Thus, honesty and lies is a constant theme in
the story. As they are at war the
‘out-laws’ and ‘in-laws’ cannot co-exist.
However, it is painful to see how Borstal has made Smith a more skillful
burglar, rather than a reformed character.
This helps us to understand and become aware of the class divisional and
class issues of Briton.
----Thulasidharan V
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