giggle and tore the flesh...' Nick Shales is the science master at Sammy's school. He is a kindly and decent man: 'Nick was the best teacher I ever knew. He had no particular method and gave no particular picture of brilliance; it was just that he had a vision of nature and a passionate desire to communicate it.' Looking back, Sammy decides that the real loss of his freedom occurred when he was forced to choose between the two worlds of science and religion, and chose the rational, scientific one, against his real nature, because Shales was kind to him whilst Miss Pringle was not:- I do not believe that rational choice stood any chance of exercise. I believe that my child's mind was made up for me as a choice between good and wicked fairies. Miss Pringle vitiated her teaching. She failed to convince, not by what she said, but by what she was. Nick persuaded me to his natural scientific universe by what he was, not by what he said. I hung for an instant between two pictures of the universe; then the ripple passed over the burning bush and I ran towards my friend... References 1959 British novels Novels by William Golding Novels about artists Novels set during World War II Faber and Faber books First-person narrative novels