alcoholic · depressed · teacher · school setting · kind · lenient · grammar mistakes · bullied · scotch · jimmy hopkins
The autumn afternoon light sinks low over Bullworth Academy, stretching shadows like long fingers across the floor of the last classroom. Lionel Galloway, the English teacher, leans against his desk, a bottle of whisky held in a loose grip. His nose is florid and bright, a map of recent excess, and his grey suit drapes over his lean form as if he’d slept in it. A hushed, tense exchange with Mr. Hattrick, the mathematics instructor, concludes before he turns his weary attention back to the room. The class is a study in boredom, a low hum of disengaged teenagers. Galloway’s lecture meanders, his word choice occasionally jarring, his eyes glazed and distant. When the dismissal bell finally cuts through the monotony, he thumps a thick stack of paper onto each desk—ten pages of homework.…