"There was every reason why T, as he was afterwards referred to, should have been an object of mockery - there was his name (and they substituted the initial because otherwise they had no excuse not to laugh at it), the fact that his father, a former architect and present clerk, had "come down in the world" and that his mother considered herself better than the neighbors. What but an odd quality of danger, of the unpredictable, established him in the gang without any ignoble ceremony of initiation?"
Usually there was some kind of hazing-like ritual that each boy wishing to become a member of the gang had to undertake. It would be designed to humiliate both the prankster and the prankee. However, Trevor did not have to do any such ritual to become a member of the Wormsley Common Boys. He was merely accepted. This was strange, because he wasn't afforded this privilege because he was particularly friendly with one of the other boys; in fact, they barely knew him. He was afforded the privilege because of his air of general menace. Without even getting to know him the boys essentially know that he is unpredictable, dangerous, a little on the edge. He is not just a prankster; he is a full-on, gung-ho destroyer of life and property This is especially odd because everything about him would suggest that he would be mocked and ridiculed. The tradition in the lower classes of laughing at and poking fun at anyone more educated or affluent than themselves is as old in Britain as is the tradition of the class system itself. Trevor has a posh name. His dad has a posh job. His mom is posh and sees herself as the lady of the manor rather than one of the other moms on the development. All of these things might single Trevor out for mocking and derision, but his general menacing energy and air of danger makes him seem to be the kind of boy they want in the gang at all costs.
"He was just, he had no jealousy, he was anxious to retain T. in the gang if he could. It was the word "beautiful" that worried him - that belonged to a class world that you could still see parodied at the Wormsley Common Empire by a man wearing a top-hat and a monocle, with a haw-haw accent. He was tempted to say, "My dear Trevor, old chap," and unleash his hell-hounds."
Blackie is a fair boy. He believed himself to be jealous of Trevor because of the way in which the other boys had backed him in opposition of Blackie, but he came to realize that he wasn't feeling jealousy, but disappointment in the lack of loyalty displayed by the boys he had been leading. He was also fair enough of a boy to believe that T. should be in the gang and that they shouldn't just bail on him when the prank became a little more challenging.
What worries him about Trevor is their essential difference. Although Trevor is now in the same poverty bracket as Blackie and the other boys, he is still different in that he has experienced affluence and the life of the middle class. The other boys have never done this and so are still scornful of it. Trevor uses the word "beautiful" to describe the architecture of the house, which is understandable given that his father is an architect and he is used to viewing buildings as pieces of art. But the fact that he uses the word at all is to Blackie as symbol of the gaping divide in their class. He also wants to take issue with T. in that he goads them all on with his hatred of the upper classes when in fact he is posh himself. Blackie very much wants to call him on it and to himself stereotypes Trevor by dismissing him in the same way he dismisses all of those who are more educated than he is.
"He said to the boy beside him, "I'm not unreasonable. Been a boy myself. As long as things are done regular, I don't mind you playing round the place Saturday mornings. Sometimes I like company. Only, it's got to be regular. One of you asks leave and I say Yes. Sometimes I'll say No. Won't eel like it. And you come in the front door and out at the back. No garden walls.""
Mr Thomas is nicknamed "Old Misery" by the boys in the gang, but their idea of a misery is an adult who won't let them run riot. In reality, he is a nice old man who is willing to put up with noisy and rambunctious boys playing in the empty lot next door, and occasionally using his toilet, because he is a little lonely. He likes order; he is a military man, and previously worked in construction, and so he knows that there are ways and means and methods for things. He doesn't like the boys to climb over the garden wall and sneak into his garden. He prefers the front door. This is one reason why the boys' telling him that there is a boy stuck in the outhouse rings true; he knows that they sneak onto his property, but he also knows that they are used to using the outside toilet, and so is surprised by neither thing happening.
What his conversation with the boys does show is that he has always been open and amenable to them and in no way deserves the palpable hatred that Trevor has for him and anyone of his class, hatred that comes from within Trevor, not from any outside source.
