I’m The King of the Castle Quotations

Key

Mrs Kingshaw

Mr Hooper

Hooper

Kingshaw

Mrs Boland

 

Quotes

‘I don’t want you to come here.’

 

‘I must think of myself a little more.’

 

‘He wanted to go to his mother…but he never did go to her …he made himself cope alone.’

 

‘……………gave ……….a long look of hatred.’

 

‘He did not attract luck to himself, he attracted unluck. Bad things happened not good things.’

 

‘Oh but they do not show everything, he is bottling it up. He is only ten and that is no age , no age at all.’

 

‘Well it is so nice to see them shaking down together after all… I think they may be friends.’

 

‘She felt a little ashamed of not wanting to take Charles with her…’

‘She worried a great deal about her capacity for motherhood, about whether she said the right things.’

 

“How well the boys have settled down together.”… They talked at length about their children, knowing nothing of the truth.

 

‘He thought, I was stupid, I could have bashed him with that stick, bashed and bashed his head in.’

 

‘Gloating’

 

‘You are all I have left now.’

 

“It’s only dead. Dead things are finished, they don’t matter”

 

 

Hooper’s own fear in the thunderstorm had been absolute and ye tit had gone, it might never have happened. Kingshaw knew he was quite powerless to use it as a weapon. Hooper’s fear had been a straightforward response to an outside situation. But his own was quite different and Hoper had the measure of it, he had done so since his first day at Warings.

 

“Nobody’s father would buy them a watch that cost fifty pounds.”

“My father would…”

 

If Hooper died it would be his fault.

 

‘ “I wouldn’t really have hit you.”

 

‘I don’t want them to find us. Not now. This is alright. I want to stay here. Perhaps it would be alright.’

 

‘He began to say… But he let his voice tail off. It was useless . Whatever they believed didn’t matter. They hadn’t even bothered to ask why. He could not explain.’

 

‘I shall not make a favourite of my own child, especially when the blame for this lies with him.’

 

“Edmund is not quite like all your other friends…”

“I hate him.”

 

“… this is alright. He felt light-headed, exulting I the freedom of it. “I’m the king of the castle”……… thought suddenly, I could kill him…

 

“Charles don’t you remember my telling you that it is not the very bravest people who are unafraid.”

 

‘She’d never really been able to make him out… Perhaps being here with Mr Hooper was helping him. Yes.’

 

“Look Hooper isn’t my friend at all, I hate Hooper, I keep on telling you and telling you. He’s a baby and a bully… I wish he had been dead.”

 

He is only eleven years old… I will not worry.’

 

‘For she had decided simply to ignore it, this silly persistent talk about their not being friends … it was a phase.’

 

‘……………was unable to explain. All the things ……………had done and said were crowded inside his head but it was impossible to convey how terrible they were.’

 

“Charles is a changed boy…it has done him so much good to have a companion.”‘

I’m The King of the Castle Fielding Section

Yet again in chapter 13 Kingshaw is ignored. What is the author’s purpose in leaving Kingshaw in the dark about Hooper’s fate? What is the significance of Kingshaw’s dwelling on the details of the film on TV? P 204-205 K wakes from his dream – how does he let down his defences here. P 208 in retrospect what does K think of himself?

P208-210 What is it about Fenwick that Kingshaw admires?

P 211 – 212 How do we see that what the adults are expecting of and thinking about their relationship is different? Kingshaw has made two things – how does he feel about each?

P213 Kingshaw meets Fielding. This is the final section of the story. How is Fielding different from Hooper? Howe is Fielding’s environment different? What is it about Fielding’s mother that K prefers or admires? Why is it significant that K has gone to the church? How K and Fielding more like ordinary boys together and what are is the author’s purpose in showing us this contrast? Why do you suppose Kingshaw meets this boy so late in the story?

Chapter 14 What is Fielding’s response to Kingshaw’s telling him about Hooper? How does it make Kingshaw feel? For what things does Kingshaw admire Fielding? Why does Fielding admire Kingshaw? What else might he think of him?

Look at the end of chapter 14 and the beginning of chapter 15 – how does the author make the contrast so evident?

How does Hooper so thoroughly frighten Kingshaw between pages 229 and 232?

What significance does Fielding’s place take on in Kingshaw’s mind? How does his mother make the situation worse? What is the final straw in ch 15? Why does he feel this way about the model?

In chapter 16 we suddenly realise that others have been trapped in this environment too. Why does Mrs K suddenly grasp at this straw of contact from the outside world? Why do we now learn of some of the opther places the Kingshaws have stayed? What phrase that keeps being repeated in this chapter has a much greater significance than its original meaning? Why?

P 256 – Another family outing, this time to the circus, and yet another time when Kingshaw is not told; he hates surprises – no wonder! What things is he afraid of here? What physical reaction does he have after? How does this contrast with Mr Hooper’s response?

P 258 – 268 What blow to his illusions does Kingshaw receive? Why is he so upset? How does Fielding attempt to mediate between the two boys? What does Kingshaw finally realise? What revenge does Kingshaw take? Why does he do it but how does he feel afterwards? Note the weather at the end here.

Ch 17 What treatment does Hooper give him and why does it work so well? What is the final straw? What do you think Kingshaw is going to do now? Why?

Look at the different reactions of the four characters to the events of the day to come. Why suddenly does it all become so obvious? Note Hooper’s reaction. How does Mrs Kingshaw finally demonstrate her total lack of understanding.

 

Things to think about:

Is Hooper truly evil?            

Is Mrs Kingshaw emotionally shallow?

How can parents be that blind?         

Is the ending foregone conclusion?

What is Fielding’s purpose in the narrative?