School Days

School Days is an autobiography by Patrick Chamoiseau, a French-Creole author who grew up in Fort-de-France on Martinique. Published in 1994, the book discusses Chamoiseau’s experiences in French-run schools. He refers to himself only as “The Little Boy.”

The book starts shortly before The Little Boy begins primary school. He is the youngest child in his family and has jealously watched his older siblings go off to school. He asks his mother to buy him a slate and chalk so he can pretend to be a schoolboy and then spends his days drawing pictures that represent the world around him. One day, he learns that writing words can also be used to capture aspects of the world. He begs older children to teach him to write words for the things around him, wanting to learn more about reading and writing. Eager to learn more, The Little Boy is initially excited to begin his classes.



Finally, The Little Boy’s turn comes and it is time for him to attend school. His first teacher, Mam Salinière, makes him feel comfortable and welcome. However, when it comes time for his mother to leave him in the classroom, The Little Boy becomes frightened and lapses into complete silence. Gradually, he realizes that school can be fun, and he enjoys learning new things.

Next, The Little Boy leaves nursery school to attend primary school. He is very excited as he walks there with his older siblings and mother, but quickly realizes that this school is not all he had hoped for. The children are forced to line up and march in files as they enter the building. The teacher is not kind like Mam Salinière, but rather cold and demanding.

The Little Boy is terrified of standing up in class and saying “present” when his name is called at roll call. He finally manages to do it, only to have the other students make fun of his name. The teacher speaks French, which is very difficult for The Little Boy to understand because it sounds so different from the Creole he is used to. The class begins to discuss time and days of the week, and the Creole students are baffled, having never thought of the world in this way. Finally, the bell rings, dismissing the children for recess.



Once outside, many of the children begin picking on Big Bellybutton, a boy in The Little Boy’s class, because he gave an embarrassing answer during the lesson. The tormented boy runs to the teachers for help, but they are uninterested. When it is time for lunch, The Little Boy returns home and finds that he appreciates it much more.

At school, the children are taught to speak proper French and spend endless classes perfecting their pronunciation. They only speak Creole when they are fighting or bullying someone, which serves to make the language even more shameful in their eyes. The teacher’s punishments become more harsh and severe. He often whips children for making mistakes and forces them to kneel in front of the class. The children are all too embarrassed to tell their mothers about this.

The Little Boy befriends Big Bellybutton, whom the teacher assumes is slow-witted. However, Big Bellybutton is excellent at mental arithmetic, answering all the questions the teacher poses to him. After this, the teacher only calls on Big Bellybutton when he is asking questions in subjects that he knows Big Bellybutton is bad at. The Little Boy notices that the teacher often treats Creole students unfairly and obviously favors the students who are more French in their appearance and speech.



The school dictates that all the children need to start drinking milk, and a special break is organized from classes to ensure that each child gets a carton. At first, the students enjoy the milk, but a rumor quickly spreads that adults are adding chemicals and poisons to the milk, leading the children to begin throwing it away when the teachers are not looking.

The Little Boy still manages to take some joy in learning new things at school. He likes listening to the teacher read, appreciating his enthusiasm for the story. One day, the teacher asks the children about what they do in their daily lives. Big Bellybutton describes how he sleeps on the floor of a one-room shack and does his homework by the light of a single lantern. The teacher is embarrassed, and no longer asks the students about their home lives.

One day, the teacher is absent and a substitute teacher leads the class. This teacher is tolerant of the Creole students and encourages them to be proud of their heritage. This gives The Little Boy hope. His sister also encourages him to persevere with his studies, forcing him to complete his homework and pay attention in his lessons. Eventually, The Little Boy realizes that he loves to read and write, and he wants to learn to write his own stories. This helps him get through the rest of his school days.