Caning

Caning is the name of a Memory in Act I of We Happy Few.

Location[]

Above the reception desk at the Reform Club.

Arthur talks to Percy after hearing he got a caning at school.

Arthur: "Hum, Percy. They said you got a caning at school."

Percy: "Yes."

Arthur: "Did it hurt very much?"

Percy: "No."

Arthur: "Are you sure you're gonna be alright?"

Percy: "Yes."

Arthur: "Do you understand why?"

Percy: "Why what?"

Arthur: "Why you got the caning?"

Percy: "Yes...?"

Arthur: "Did you really kick a rubbish bin into Lesley Crowden's face?"

Percy: "No! I didn't!"

Arthur: "Did you kick a rubbish bin?"

Percy: "Yes."

Arthur: "Did it then go into Lesley Crowden's face?"

Percy: "I didn't see him. I didn't see him. He came around the corner. ... he came around the... he came around the corner."

Arthur: "Oh well that's not at all your fault then."

Percy: "Oh good. [long pause] Are you being sarcastic?"

Arthur: "Yes. I was being sarcastic."

Percy: "I hate it when you're sarcastic!"

Caning was a form of physical punishment used in schools, involving using a cane to strike the offender, typically on their wrists.
- Caning as a school punishment was revoked in 1987.
Flagellation, the act of beating the human body with special implements, was so common in England as punishment that caning (including spanking and whipping) was called "the English vice"