Onderwêreld deur Fanie Viljoen | Log File: Die Tonnel | English Summary | Onderwereld

 

Onderwêreld deur Fanie Viljoen

Log File: Die Tonnel

The first day of school was long and boring. It started with Greg oversleeping before being woken up by TJ, who teases Greg for not being a positive example for the other students at the school, before further driving home the fact that the prefect body at the school is made up of individuals whose parents are considered the school’s greatest benefactors. Greg finally wakes up and groggily prepares for his first official day as head student, more immediately, the assembly. At that moment, he catches a glimpse of Eckhardt, drenched in sweat. Their first interaction was not the best and Greg dislikes him at this point.

Dr. Alec Pienaar, the school’s headmaster drones out the same speech that he has in previous first assemblies. By now, Greg has even memorized the words, but this time he is taken aback when Pienaar does not follow his usual script. The headmaster announces his departure from the Lawson community, a decision which had been intended for the previous year; however, after much convincing from the board of directors and various parents, he decided to stay on one more year. He further explains that most of his duties will be carried out by Mr. Pete Andersen, his deputy because all of Dr. Pienaar’s efforts and time this year will be consumed by his pursuit of private benefactors. The rest of the day is dedicated to various administrative purposes, as well as constant warnings issued to matric students about the gravity of their final year. New teachers are introduced and later that afternoon, the outsourced athletics coach briefs the athletics club about the upcoming season as the golden sun envelops the campus.

A Lawson College “tradition” involves hazing the newly arrived Grade 8 students. The “Trappers” are woken up in the middle of the night and gathered in the courtyard formed in the centre of the Lawson College boarding houses. The matric students demand that they show their loyalty to the school by singing the school song; however, this is part of the ruse because, at that early point in the school year, the Grade 8s do not know the school song whatsoever. Their failure to sing a satisfactory rendition of the school song then shifts the matrics’ plan to the next phase: the true test in the tunnel. They take the students to a manhole that covers the entrance to a network of old sewage pipes underneath the various boarding houses. Once there, the grade 8s are blindfolded and sent down into the darkness, from which they are expected to escape using the only exit made available for them: a manhole elsewhere in the network. While the matric students send the youngsters down into the dark, TJ counts 48 of them while Greg thinks back on his feelings when he underwent the same hazing. The fear and tension are immense, especially with the blindfold on; however, down in the pipes, the darkness is simply overwhelming. After the last grade 8 is sent on their journey, the matric students laugh and chat over their roughhousing. However, Greg cuts the happy chatter when he points at Eckhardt and shouts, “Here’s another Trapper!”

Greg mockingly tells Eckhardt to sing the school song. Eckhardt says that he does not sing. Greg requests a blindfold to use on Eckhardt, but Eckhardt resists the binding. Greg enlists the help of the other matrics present and they hold down Eckhardt while Greg blindfolds him before spinning him around a few times and sending him into the same dark tunnel as the grade 8s. Eckhardt falls a few times and the blindfold comes off, exposing Eckhardt’s over-the-shoulder look of contempt directed at Greg. At that moment where another student’s flashlight illuminated Eckhardt’s eyes, Greg saw his older brother John and immediately called off the hazing.

SummariesKeroshan PillayComment