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Character analysis

Robin Hood

in Checking Out Me History by John Agard

Robin Hood is one of several figures, both historical and legendary, mentioned by the Speaker in John Agard's dramatic monologue "Checking Out Me History." He doesn't come across as a character with his own story but rather as an example of the type of figure the British colonial education system chose to highlight — a white, English folk hero whose tale was shared with the Speaker during childhood, while the histories of Black liberators were intentionally left out.

The Speaker brings up Robin Hood alongside Dick Whittington as symbols of a Eurocentric curriculum that filled young minds with myths and legends tied to English cultural identity. In the poem, Robin Hood's characteristics are more symbolic than personal: he embodies a romanticized version of heroism — the "acceptable" rebel who takes from the rich to give to the poor, yet whose story ultimately supports the very system that silences other narratives. His presence is ironic; he is an outlaw celebrated by the establishment, while true freedom fighters like Toussaint L'Ouverture and Nanny de Maroon remain overlooked.

Robin Hood doesn’t experience any personal development. His function is strictly rhetorical — he serves to highlight the Speaker's anger and sense of cultural loss. By mentioning him, Agard reveals how selective storytelling influences identity and power, positioning Robin Hood as a passive tool in the poem's main argument: that deciding whose history to teach is, in itself, a form of control.

About this character

Form
Short story
Author
John Agard
First published
1996

The person01–03

01·Who they are

Who is Robin Hood?

Robin Hood appears in John Agard's dramatic monologue "Checking Out Me History" not as a fully realised character but as a carefully chosen symbol. He is an English folk outlaw — the legendary figure who robs the rich to give to the poor — incorporated into the Speaker's colonial education. Agard introduces him in the poem's first movement, aligning him with Dick Whittington as stories the British educational establishment deemed essential for students. He carries no dialogue or independent action within the poem; his existence is representative rather than narrative.

02·Arc & motivation

What is Robin Hood's arc and motivation?

Robin Hood lacks an arc within the poem because that is Agard's intention. He is static, preserved in the amber of official myth. His "motivation" is assigned to him by the system that promotes him: he is the acceptable rebel, the outlaw the establishment has rendered safe enough for instruction. The irony constructed by Agard is sharp; a figure whose legend is rooted in defying authority has been appropriated by that very authority to occupy classroom time that could have introduced the Speaker to true liberators. He does not grow or change because the curriculum never required it; he simply occupies space.

03·Key moments

What are Robin Hood's key moments?

Robin Hood's only textual moment is his appearance alongside Dick Whittington as one of the figures the Speaker was actively taught. The pairing is deliberate. Agard selects two English folk heroes — one fictional outlaw, one rags-to-riches lord mayor — and places them in direct structural contrast with the suppressed histories that follow: Toussaint L'Ouverture's Haitian revolution, Nanny de Maroon's guerrilla resistance, Mary Seacole's battlefield nursing. The contrast is central to the poem's argument. Each stanza focused on a Black historical figure implicitly responds to the stanza presenting Robin Hood. His key moment, therefore, is not an action but an absence of accountability — he is taught, celebrated, and left unquestioned.

The cast04–05

04·Relationships

What are Robin Hood's most important relationships?

With the Speaker: The Speaker does not express nostalgia or affection for Robin Hood; he portrays the figure as evidence of a crime — the theft of his own history. Mentioning Robin Hood is an act of exposure, not tribute. The Speaker has now "checked out" what he was given, and Robin Hood fails to withstand scrutiny.

With Dick Whittington: The pairing of Robin Hood and Dick Whittington creates a composite image of English mythological self-congratulation. Together they represent a curriculum that prioritised English cultural identity — one legend of generous outlawry, one legend of mercantile success — at the expense of anything that might empower a Black Caribbean child's sense of self.

With Toussaint L'Ouverture and Nanny de Maroon: These relationships are structured by opposition. Robin Hood is the celebrated rebel; Toussaint and Nanny are the concealed figures. Yet by any measure of historical consequence — a slave revolution that founded a nation, a woman who led guerrilla warfare against enslavers — their stories overshadow his legend. Agard uses Robin Hood's elevation to highlight their suppression.

With Mary Seacole: Mary Seacole's erasure becomes grotesque when juxtaposed with Robin Hood's prominence. A real woman of colour who risked her life nursing soldiers was omitted; a fictional Englishman was celebrated. The contrast implicates gender and race simultaneously in the gatekeeping that Agard critiques.

05·Connected characters

How is Robin Hood connected to the other characters?

The Speaker (Narrator)

The Speaker names Robin Hood as one of the legends he was taught in school, using him as evidence of a curriculum designed to centre white English mythology while erasing Black history. Robin Hood is thus a symbol of the Speaker's miseducation and the cultural imposition he is actively reclaiming himself from.

Dick Whittington

Robin Hood and Dick Whittington are paired together by the Speaker as twin examples of English folk heroes prioritised by the colonial education system. Their coupling reinforces the poem's argument that myth and legend were used to crowd out authentic, liberatory histories.

Toussaint L'Ouverture

Robin Hood stands in implicit contrast to Toussaint L'Ouverture: where Robin Hood's legend was taught and celebrated, Toussaint's real revolutionary struggle for Haitian freedom was hidden. This contrast exposes the ideological bias of the curriculum the Speaker critiques.

Nanny de Maroon

Like Toussaint, Nanny de Maroon is a suppressed freedom fighter set against the foregrounded myth of Robin Hood. The juxtaposition highlights how a female Black Caribbean hero was rendered invisible while a white English folk outlaw was elevated.

Mary Seacole

Mary Seacole's erasure from the Speaker's schooling is implicitly sharpened by the presence of figures like Robin Hood; a real woman of colour who saved lives was omitted while fictional English legends were taught, underscoring the poem's theme of racialised historical gatekeeping.

Study06–07

06·Questions

Questions readers ask about Robin Hood

Who is Robin Hood in 'Checking Out Me History'?

Robin Hood serves as a symbol of the Eurocentric colonial curriculum that the Speaker was compelled to learn. Agard includes him among the English folk heroes—the legendary outlaw who robs from the rich to give to the poor—that the British educational establishment prioritized, overshadowing the histories of real Black liberators like Toussaint L'Ouverture and Nanny de Maroon.

Why does Agard pair Robin Hood with Dick Whittington?

Agard pairs Robin Hood and Dick Whittington to construct a composite image of English mythological self-congratulation. Together—one a legend of generous outlawry, the other a tale of mercantile rags-to-riches success—they represent a curriculum that focused on English cultural identity at the expense of empowering a Black Caribbean child's sense of self and heritage.

Is Robin Hood portrayed as a villain in the poem?

Robin Hood is not depicted as a villain, but he is involved in a damaging system. Agard critiques the establishment that elevated him, not the legend itself. The deeper irony lies in the fact that Robin Hood—a figure whose story centers on defying authority—has been appropriated by that very authority to occupy classroom time that could have been dedicated to genuine liberators.

What is Robin Hood's relationship with the Speaker in the poem?

The Speaker views Robin Hood as evidence of a crime—the theft of his own history—rather than expressing any fondness or nostalgia. Naming Robin Hood acts as an exposure: the Speaker has now "checked out" the education he received, and Robin Hood's celebrated status fails to withstand scrutiny when juxtaposed with the ignored narratives of real freedom fighters.

How does Robin Hood contrast with Toussaint L'Ouverture and Nanny de Maroon?

Robin Hood is the recognized rebel; Toussaint L'Ouverture and Nanny de Maroon are the intentionally obscured figures. Toussaint led a slave revolution that established a nation, and Nanny directed guerrilla warfare against enslavers—yet both were omitted from the Speaker's education while a fictional English outlaw was taught unchallenged, revealing the racialized ideological bias of the curriculum.

What does Robin Hood's prominence in the curriculum reveal about Mary Seacole's erasure?

This contrast highlights the stark omission of Mary Seacole. A real woman of color who risked her life nursing soldiers was excluded from the Speaker's education, while a fictional white Englishman was celebrated. This juxtaposition implicates both race and gender in the gatekeeping Agard critiques, indicating that the curriculum's silences were intentional, not coincidental.

What is the significance of Robin Hood being an outlaw who is taught by the establishment?

The irony forms a core aspect of Agard's argument: an outlaw whose legend is based on defying power has been sanitized and appropriated by that same power as an acceptable classroom myth. This demonstrates how colonial education could accommodate a domesticated dissent—Robin Hood's rebellion—while vigorously suppressing any narrative of resistance that threatened racial or imperial hierarchies.

Does Robin Hood undergo any development or change in the poem?

Robin Hood experiences no development at all, and that is precisely Agard's point. He remains static, preserved in the amber of official myth, never required to evolve or be scrutinized by the curriculum that champions him. His stasis sharply contrasts with the dynamic, consequential histories of figures like Toussaint and Nanny, whose stories the Speaker actively reclaims for himself.

07·Essay angles

Use this in your essay

Tool · Essay angles

  • The acceptable rebel: Argue that Robin Hood's inclusion in the curriculum reveals how colonial education systems could accept a sanitised form of dissent

    an outlaw made safe — while suppressing any narrative of resistance threatening racial or imperial hierarchies.

  • Myth versus history: Explore how Agard's structural contrast between Robin Hood (legend) and figures like Toussaint L'Ouverture (documented historical actor) interrogates which types of knowledge are granted authority and why.

  • Representation and identity formation: Analyse how teaching English folk heroes like Robin Hood to Caribbean children functions, in the Speaker's account, as a form of cultural imposition that distorts self-knowledge and belonging.

  • Irony as political tool: Examine how Agard uses irony through Robin Hood

    a figure whose own story revolves around challenging power — to unveil the hypocrisy of a system that celebrates fictional rebellion while erasing real liberation movements.

  • Whose heroism counts: Build a thesis around the poem's implicit question of which bodies are recognised as heroes in the official record, using Robin Hood's whiteness and Englishness as a lens for examining the racialised logic of colonial curriculum design.

Checking Out Me History

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