Arictocrats
Hans and Tonio during their walk after the school had to take off their hats and greet acquaintances they met, but mostly people they met greeted them first. It looks pathetic in a way concerning the greeting people, because the boys were just 14-years-old, and it just provides an impression of a wish to make a service when an elderly person greets boys first. Thus the society is mocked, and a desire to get to the upper circle looks miserable and ironic.
A right name
Irwin, a friend of Hans, is a witty person and loses no opportunity to show his wits, but not always in a positive manner. He asked Tonio what did his name mean, and added that his parents wanted to call him with some foreign name with a purpose to add some significance to the owner of this name. Irwin simply wanted to mock Tonio, but Tonio did not care, deeply he knew that his significance was not in his name, but in his personality.
Almost succeeded
Tonio had sent his poems into different publishing houses, magazines, and newspapers, and finally some of his works were accepted. But unfortunately they were not destined to see the world from the pages of this magazines, as right after this the magazine has become bankrupt. This was bad luck for both Tonio and the magazine.
