Essay about the two stories in Little Ironies

The two stories: The Father and The Teacher


"Oh no! I failed again!" cried Catherine. "Now father will beat me again!" Catherine wept on her way home. She was a sixteen years old school-girl who was Secondary four this year. She was also preparing hard for her upcoming 'O' Levels. She was actually a very bright and hardworking girl but she was often mistreated by her father. Her mother was beaten to death by her father. She had to clean up the whole house and do all kinds of house-hold chores. If she was too slow, she would be beaten by her father. This caused her to have no time to do homework and would result in her failing exams. She had already failed four exams and every time she fails, she will be canned harshly by her parents. She had scars of different types and lengths on her back. This time, she failed her examinations again.

"Father will kill me this time," wept Catherine. But there was no one there to consol her. Catherine was an honest child so she would always tell her parents the truth. When her father reached home and after she had told them that she failed the exam, she got the beating of her life. She screamed and pleaded for mercy, but her father just beat harder.

"You better pass the composition test tommorrow!" boomed her father. When he finished, there were many fresh scars on her back......

The next day, Catherine dragged a sleepy, tired and aching body to school. When the examination started, Catherine wanted to write about her story bcause she just could not take her father any more. She knew that she would fail as it was out of point. But she just hoped that the marker would pity her......

Fortunately, the marker was Mr Tan, her form teacher. He was a very kind and caring teacher. He was shocked as he marked Catherine's composition. "Is this the reason why Catherine kept on failing?" Mr Tan thought. So on that day, he found Catherine and he said.

"Catherine, is the composition true?"

"Yes Mr Tan! You believed me!" cried Catherine. "It is true!" Mr Tan stared in atonishment. He fished out his handphone and dialed triple nine......

Twenty minutes later, the police came. They arrested Catherine's father and brought him into the police car. He flashed a pitiful and regretful look at Catherine before they got onto the car. But Catherine showed no sign of pity.

"Now, I will be an orphan," said Catherine sadly.

"Catherine, do you want me to be your father?" asked Mr. Tan.

"Um...yes Mr. Tan. I want to call you father," replied Catherine happily. "From now on, I would not be mistreated anymore!"...... (458 words)