Enid's portrayal of fathers

[Anita Bensoussane]

Enjoy reacquainting yourself with the book, 70s-child!

[black labrador]

One of the clearest indications that Snubby is related to Roger and Diana on their mother's side is there in the Rilloby Fair Mystery. Great-uncle Robert, who is a Lynton, is not a relation of Snubby's; and when he is discussing the uncle with Roger and Diana, Snubby refers to him as "your great-uncle", i.e. not his. So it doesn't look like Snubby is a Lynton.

I don't think this is correct. Uncle Robert is Mrs Lynton's uncle - we know this from the Rilloby Fair Mystery where she says that he used to take her with him to review old documents when she was a girl. If he isn't Snubby's great uncle then Snubby is presumably related to Mr Lynton.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Great-uncle Robert, who is a Lynton, is not a relation of Snubby's; and when he is discussing the uncle with Roger and Diana, Snubby refers to him as "your great-uncle", i.e. not his. So it doesn't look like Snubby is a Lynton.

I don't think this is correct. Uncle Robert is Mrs Lynton's uncle - we know this from the Rilloby Fair Mystery where she says that he used to take her with him to review old documents when she was a girl. If he isn't Snubby's great uncle then Snubby is presumably related to Mr Lynton.

I'm afraid that's just one of numerous inconsistencies in the Barney/"R" Mysteries. Snubby doesn't appear to be a Lynton according to most of the books, and Great-uncle Robert is introduced as being a relative of Mr. Lynton. In Chapter 1 of The Rilloby Fair Mystery, Mrs. Lynton explains that her husband is out of sorts because "he's heard that his Uncle Robert is coming to stay." When Blyton later writes that Mrs. Lynton used to look at old documents with Uncle Robert when she was a girl, it's probably a slip-up. Though I suppose it's possible that Mr. Lynton and his future wife knew each other when they were children and that his Uncle Robert took a number of children, including her, to view documents.

[70s-child]

Enjoy reacquainting yourself with the book, 70s-child!

I just finished reading it. What a beautiful book! Some of the stories came back to me as I was reading them, but I had forgotten several others. Every one of them was a pleasure to read!

[Spitfire]

I was listening to Just William 3 read by Martin Jarvis yesterday, and it occurred to me how similar Mr. Brown is to Mr. Lynton and Mr. Hilton - stern, sardonic and aloof, with a tendency to hide behind newspapers! Are these good depictions of a typical fatherhood in the forties and fifties I wonder?

Of course, Mr L and H don't play any part in the stories, so we don't know much about them. I'd like to think that they had Mr. Brown's sense of humour which - occasionally - shines through his stern demeanour.

[Ming]

Somebody once posted on the forum ages ago (I think it was Nigel) that in the early days fathers were strict people and 'thrashings' and 'scoldings' were the father's duty. Mothers were gentle figures. Nowadays it seems to be the opposite!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Do you mean in books or in real life, Ming?!

[Katharine]

I was listening to Just William 3 read by Martin Jarvis yesterday, and it occurred to me how similar Mr. Brown is to Mr. Lynton and Mr. Hilton - stern, sardonic and aloof, with a tendency to hide behind newspapers! Are these good depictions of a typical fatherhood in the forties and fifties I wonder?

I can't speak for all fathers at that time, but certainly my grandfather was like that, (not so sure about being sardonic). In his defence he worked very long hours in a physically demanding job and also had three allotments to tend in order to feed his family. When he was at home he was so exhausted he didn't have a lot of patience with small noisy children. I also recently discovered he was in the Home Guard during the war too, so he got even less sleep. Having said that, he did on occasions play with the children, presumably during his rare days off and from letters he wrote them when they were older, he was immensely proud of them.
Certainly as far as my parents were concerned, Enid Blyton's depiction of life during those times was pretty accurate, although they weren't from the middle class background of most of her characters. Children were allowed to roam the countryside, they were also expected to help out around the house. There was a 'pecking order' among children, ie, the older ones kept the younger ones in their places. Fairly sure they were never 'thrashed', but a good hard slap would have kept them on the straight and narrow! Boys weren't expected to cry (it wasn't encouraged in girls either). Boys and girls also had their own jobs, they didn't think of it as sexism.
Don't think they ever encountered hidden treasure, spies or smugglers though

[Lucky Star]

I cant recall specific incidents offhand but there are many examples of Mr Brown being lenient and even affectionate to William. Particularly on those occassions where William's escapades actually aid his father in getting out of some unwanted duty (such as an unwanted guest leaving the house in high dudgeon ). The very nature of the Just William stories demands that William ends most stories anticipating parental wrath, its all part of the highly successful formula. The Brown family does indeed seem to be quite typical in that father hands out the punishments and scoldings and his mother does all the remonstrating and instructing.

As to Mr Lynton I tink he doesn't feature enough in the books to really be able to form an opinion of him. We know he is stricty and irritable but I think Enid probably just decided to install a strict father as an opposite to a kindly mother for plot purposes. She then didn't use him much.

[Ming]

Do you mean in books or in real life, Ming?!

I think Nigel meant both! I can't find the message, anywhere, perhaps someone else with a better head for keywords can help!

[Moonraker]

Do you mean in books or in real life, Ming?!

I think Nigel meant both! I can't find the message, anywhere, perhaps someone else with a better head for keywords can help!

It's no use asking me, which is probably why Ming didn't!

[Lenoir]

This might be the one Ming is referring to. It makes interesting reading anyway. Some of the points have been discussed before and it is interesting to read what people had to say back in 2005. That’s a few months before I joined the forums.

I am reading Rat-A-Tat and yes, Mr Lynton really has the Christmas spirit doesn't he?
However in his defence, he seemsto have a soft spot for his daughter:
   "Oh, Dad! You didn't ask Great-Uncle in the Christmas holidays, surely!" cried Diana. "He talks and talks and talks, and we daren't say a word, -"
   "Perhaps that's why I asked him!" said her father, a sudden twinkle in his eye.

And despite everything, Snubby prefers the Lyntons to his other relatives!