Please provide a summary of Chapter 5 of To Sir with Love.

 In chapter 5, Braithwaite still
looks for a job. Here, the character of Braithwaite remains the same since all those interviews
that he has gone in this chapter and racially rejected by them because of the color of his skin.
The character also changes.

 Braithwaite keeps on searching for jobs
but he always gets the same kind of response “To black”. He then saw an advertisement of the
electrical form at Dagenham. He went to the Personnel Office and when he was called to the
manager, the manager asked him why he wanted this job. This is when Braithwaite gets irritated
because whenever he went for a job interview, he was racially rejected not by his academic skills
but his skin color. “I need the job to help me pay for little things like the food I eat, the
cloths I wear and the lodging I occupy.” But then, he was still racially rejected when the
manager politely says that he will not fit here because none of his employees are uneducated and
he also says – “They might resent the posh way you speak and….” This shows the theme of racism.
This is also the possible answer which rejects Braithwaite for every
interview.

Till here, the character of Braithwaite is in a
sad/angry/irritated mood. But then, he meets someone that picked him up from the dark to the
light. In St. James Park, he met an old man. “A big city cannot afford to have its attention
distracted from the important job of being a big city by such a tiny, unimportant item as your
happiness or mine”. He encourages Braithwaite to become a teacher in East End of London because
they desperately need teachers over there –“From all accounts it is rather a tough area and most
teachers prefer to seek jobs elsewhere”. Listening to the words of the old man who has sat with
Mr. Braithwaite for two hours talking about the situation and still not exchanged names, he tries
to apply for that job. He gave his CV to the Ministry of education. They called him for the
interview and it went well and he got a job in Greenslade School.He also says that they did not
care for his color. The East end of London, people talk openly. The area is a war effected, dirty
and messy place and not a suitable attraction for people.

 Till this
point, Braithwaite’s character starts to change. His character is now in a relaxed and in a happy
mood. So in this chapter, the character of Braithwaite is
developed.

The plot if this chapter is when he meets the old man in
the park feeding the ducks. The plot is developed when they both have a two hour talk. The old
man is the main person of the plot and he is the one who changes Braithwaite and helped him
continue to search for a job and finally, Braithwaite got the job in Greenslade
School.

The theme that is introduced in this chapter is racism;
mainly racism. Every single time when Braithwaite goes for an interview, the theme of racism is
introduced. They racially reject him because of the color of his skin. Also, the theme of
friendship is introduced. It is introduces when Braithwaite has the talk between the old man in
the park. Usually people don’t get closer to Negros in London just like it happened in the first
chapter when the lady refused to sit with Braithwaite in the bus. But this old man was freely
talking to Braithwaite and through their talk; we can find that they were
friendly.