I don't seem to recall CatCF being that dark, but, it's been a while, and I was rather young when I read it... Maybe it reads differently in the light of adulthood.
What makes this chapter so brilliant is the language. It's a marvel of charm and wit, without a word to spare. If it weren't playful it would just be horrid, but playfully horrid is another thing altogether.
"We’ve got to use one or two schoolmasters occasionally or it wouldn’t work."
I don't seem to recall CatCF being that dark, but, it's been a while, and I was rather young when I read it... Maybe it reads differently in the light of adulthood.