Character guide

Tom Brown

major

Also known as Tom, Master Tom, Brown, young Brown, Thomas

Tom enters Rugby as a hearty, reckless boy whose chief ambitions are football, fishing, and keeping his end up among the Schoolhouse set. His warm heart collides with his impatience when the matron saddles him with a frail new chum, Arthur, instead of the study idyll he had planned with East. That reluctant act of protection becomes the hinge on which his early school years turn, forcing a boy who only knows how to shove in his carcass to learn what it costs to look after someone weaker.

George Arthur

major

Also known as Arthur, little Arthur, Poor little Arthur, Geordie

Arthur arrives at Rugby delicate, timid, and utterly unprepared for the noise and bullying of a public school, agreeing with everything Tom says until Tom can hardly bear it. His mother's new curtains and sofa make him a partner in the study, but his real contribution is a gentle, unshakeable piety that shames Tom's rougher instincts without ever preaching at him. Watching Tom cackle after him like a hen with one chick shows how much the school's moral weather depends on who is asked to protect whom.

Harry East

supporting

Also known as East, Harry, young Master East, little East

East is the friend Tom had counted on sharing Gray's study with, plotting night-lines, slings, and expeditions to Brownsover Mills and Caldecott's Spinney. When Arthur is thrust into the partnership instead, East takes the displacement with more grace than the disappointed Tom, and the two boys remain inseparable in mischief and in scrapes. His readiness to stand shoulder to shoulder against Flashman, and his rueful comment that being done with Flashey is cheap enough at the price of a bloody collar, mark him as the kind of ally the Schoolhouse runs on.

Dr. Arnold

supporting

Also known as the Doctor, The Doctor

Dr. Arnold governs the Schoolhouse less by rules than by the force of his character, so that a summons to tea with the Doctor is a small social coronation for a boy like Tom. His wife arranges the chumming of Arthur with Tom, and the matron carries out the Doctor's household policy with diplomatic skill, showing how thoroughly the headmaster's moral design reaches into the smallest corners of school life. Boys measure themselves against his approval long before they understand what he is trying to make of them.

Flashman

supporting

Also known as Flashman, that blackguard Flashman, that bully Flashman, poor Flashman, Flashey

Flashman torments younger boys, sets the fifth form against Tom and East, and proves that a bully's real weapon is not his fists but the dirt he can throw until some of it sticks. When Diggs insists on fair play and the two youngsters close on him, Flashman's skull is only skinned, but his reign is finished, and he never lays finger on either of them again. His drunken hurdle-borne exit from the School world is the small fry's long-prayed-for deliverance, and a lesson in how much of school tyranny is held up by nobody's resistance.

Brooke

supporting

Also known as old Brooke, Old Brooke, young Brooke, Young Brooke, old Pater Brooke, Pater Brooke

The Brookes represent the best of what Rugby can produce: strength, leadership, and the respect of the house, a standard the younger boys absorb without ever being lectured about it. Tom and East grow up in the shadow of that example, learning what a praepostor ought to be from the men who already are one. Their presence gives the Schoolhouse its spine, and gives the reader a sense of the ladder Tom is slowly, clumsily climbing.

Martin

supporting

Also known as The aforesaid Martin, Poor Martin

Martin belongs to the quieter, more sensitive fringe of Rugby's boisterous society, where his devotion to birds and natural history marks him as different from the cricket-and-fighting crowd. His kindness and eccentricity make him both vulnerable to the school's casual cruelties and quietly admirable to those who notice him. He matters as a counterweight to the novel's celebration of muscular Christianity, showing that courage and worth can take gentle, unwarlike forms.

Squire Brown

minor

Also known as The Squire, Squire, the Squire, Brown

Tom's father, a wise and affectionate country gentleman who sends Tom to Rugby.

Benjamin

minor

Also known as old Benjy, Benjy, Mr. Benjamin, Poor old Benjy

An old family servant of the Browns, devoted and fond of Tom.

Diggs

minor

Also known as Poor Diggs, old Diggs, Poor old Diggs, the relentless Diggs

An older student known for his relentless teasing and practical jokes.

Jack Raggles

minor

Also known as Jack, Little dirty Jack, dirty Jack, Raggles, Meantime Jack Raggles

A rough village boy who becomes a runner and later a soldier.

Crab Jones

minor

Also known as Crab Jones, Crab, Trust Crab Jones, Jones, old Jones

A sly and manipulative schoolboy known for his cunning.

Harry Winburn

minor

Also known as Harry, Luckily Harry, Harrison

A local boy from the veast (village feast) who interacts with Tom.

Charity Lamb

minor

Also known as Charity

A servant or village woman mentioned in passing.

Stumps

minor

A schoolboy with a nickname, part of the Rugby crowd.

Farmer Ives

minor

Also known as old Farmer Ives

A local farmer who appears at the village feast.

Mrs. Brown

minor

Also known as Madam Brown

Tom's mother, a gentle and caring presence at home.

Warner

minor

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Thomas Ingoldsby

minor

Also known as little Tom, Tom

A minor character or allusion, possibly a younger boy.

Gower

minor

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Keeper

minor

A dog or animal mentioned in the story.

Jacob Dodson

minor

Also known as Jacob

A village character mentioned in passing.

Slogger Williams

minor

Also known as Williams, The Slogger, the Slogger, Slogger

A strong but slow-witted boy who becomes a bully and later a friend after a fight.

Willum Smith

minor

Also known as Willum, Willum Smith

A local village boy who interacts with the Rugby students.

Joe Willis

minor

Also known as Joe, Joseph

A schoolboy and friend of Tom, involved in various scrapes.

Sally Harrowell

minor

Also known as Sally, Harrowell

A village girl at the feast who briefly interacts with Tom.

Scud

minor

Also known as old Scud

A horse or dog owned by a character, briefly mentioned.

Tadpole

minor

Also known as the Tadpole

A nickname for a small schoolboy.

Johnson

minor

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Old Velveteens

minor

Also known as Velveteens

A local gamekeeper or countryman encountered by the boys.

Mary

minor

Also known as Molly, Bell

A female servant or relative briefly mentioned.

Jacob Doodle

minor

Also known as Jacob, Poor Jacob Doodle - calf, Poor Jacob

A simple-minded village boy who causes amusement at the school.

Thompson

minor

Also known as Farmer Thompson

A local farmer mentioned in the narrative.

John Jones

minor

Also known as John, ride old John, John Jones, Jones the praepostor

A praepostor (prefect) at Rugby School.

Bill Taylor

minor

Also known as Bill, Billy Taylor

A village boy or servant mentioned briefly.

Old Madman

minor

Also known as The Madman, The old Madman, old Madman, Madman, the old Madman, the Madman

A local eccentric or madman encountered by the boys.

Job Rudkin

minor

Also known as Job

A village character mentioned in passing.

Snooks

minor

A schoolboy with a nickname, part of the Rugby crowd.

Cunning Joe

minor

Also known as Joe

A sly village boy or servant.

Bob

minor

Also known as Cherry Bob

A village boy or servant mentioned briefly.

Hall

minor

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Harkaway

minor

A schoolboy with a nickname, part of the Rugby crowd.

Rattle

minor

A schoolboy with a nickname, part of the Rugby crowd.

Old Momus

minor

A nickname for a critical or mocking character.

Mr. Aislabie

minor

Also known as old Mr. Aislabie

A local gentleman or parent mentioned in the narrative.

Mrs. Arnold

minor

Also known as Arnold

The wife of Dr. Arnold, briefly mentioned.

Rowe

minor

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Jem

minor

Also known as James

A servant or village boy mentioned briefly.

Noah Crooke

minor

Also known as Noah, Poor old Noah

A village character mentioned in passing.

Sukey

minor

A female servant or village woman.

Rachel

minor

A female servant or village woman.

Old Blowhard

minor

Also known as Old Blowhard

A nickname for a boastful or loud character.

Mentor

minor

A classical allusion used as a nickname for a guide.

Walker

minor

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Bogle

minor

A schoolboy with a nickname, part of the Rugby crowd.

Caldecott

minor

Also known as old Caldecott

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Groove

minor

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Hedge

minor

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Crew

minor

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Osbert

minor

Also known as Herbert

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Gray

minor

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Lowell

minor

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Morgan

minor

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Rimmon

minor

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Poor Charley

minor

Also known as Charles

A minor character, possibly a younger boy.

Bill Smith

minor

Also known as Smith, Bill

A village boy or servant mentioned briefly.

Old Dobbin

minor

Also known as Dobbin

A horse mentioned in the story.

Griffith

minor

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Mrs. Porter

minor

Also known as Porter

A woman mentioned in the narrative, possibly a landlady.

Young Green

minor

Also known as Green, Master Green

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.

Gradus

minor

A schoolboy with a nickname, part of the Rugby crowd.

Winter

minor

A schoolboy mentioned among the Rugby students.