The figure in this study recalls William Blake’s miniature painting The Ghost of a Flea (c. 1819–20), which Howson saw at the Tate at the age of 12. Following this seminal encounter, Blake has continued to influence Howson’s work, particularly in his move away from a purely naturalistic representation of human anatomy to one drawn from the imagination.

The massive limbs, and the potential for violence suggested by the figure’s clenched fist, are undercut by his downturned, half-hidden face with furrowed, perhaps sorrowful brow. The study was executed shortly before Howson’s first trip to Bosnia as an official British war artist. He has commented: 'The painting, 'The Dunce', is an expression of my own feelings and the way I saw life in the period just before my first trip to Bosnia. […] I can say that 'The Dunce' is a self-portrait and reflects my fears and insecurity at that time, while still portraying the strength which was required to see me through the next few months.'

The head and musculature anticipate the thuggish Nazi guards that flank the prisoners in Howson’s Holocaust Crowd Scene II. Violence, the threat of violence, and man’s capacity for violence, expressed through the physicality of these brutish figures, is a longstanding theme of Howson’s work.