Malory Towers successes

[manzanita]

I'm just working my way through the Malory Towers series, and at many points I am rather staggered at some of the behaviour and attitudes from the pupils and teachers and leave a lot to be desired in many cases!

However, I was wondering - who would you consider to be a Malory Towers success using Miss Grayling's speech as the definition, and why?

[Anita Bensoussane]

Mary-Lou, I think. She starts off very timid, hiding in the shadow of others, but gradually grows in confidence, displaying a kind and pleasant personality. By the time she leaves Malory Towers she has starred in a play (Cinderella), has learnt French to such a high standard that others come to her for help and she has made up her mind to train as a nurse. She is well on her way to becoming "a strong person that the world can lean on."

Anita

[manzanita]

My sentiments exactly Anita! Mary Lou was my number one candidate.

Strangely enough, I would also nominate Gwendoline, because although she does leave a lot to be desired for the vast majority of her school career with no question, she does face up to herself in the fifth form when confronted with her doppelganger in Maureen and in the sixth when her father becomes ill. Granted she has a long way to go before being a total success, but it is a big turn around for Gwen and I cannot think of anyone else who begins such a transformation.

Bill also is a candidate to me. She starts off being very horse orientated and that's all she cared about, but again, she does become more diverse and accepting of other things apart from Thunder and does apply herself even though Thunder and later, Clarissa and Merrylegs are a big part of her life. Also, like Mary Lou she has decided on her path after Malory Towers and adult life whereas the others are still wishy washy in comparison.

[Yak]

Mary-Lou without a doubt .. perhaps the biggest success of all. Clarissa, because she overcame her timidity. Gwen? Yes, in the sixth, though it was not entirely MT that made her change. I suppose I should include Sally but she bored me rigid.

[lizarfau]

What about June? In her first term she deliberately gets Alicia and Darrell into trouble, in her second term she writes poison-pen letters to Moira and comes close to being expelled, and by the end of the series has rescued Amanda from drowning and is working hard to get into the Malory Towers sports teams under Moira's tuition. She's probably the girl who does the biggest about-turn in the series.

[manzanita]

Oooh... June, yes I hadn't thought of her as she is late in the series, but hmmm... if she carries on that way, yes she could be an MT success.

Sally did bore me to tears as well - she's too dependable, sturdy etc etc!

[Yak]

June did change herself. true, but it seemed a bit too much to me like 'she's great now cos she's good at sports and athletic.'

[manzanita]

Well, by those lights, I am indeed Truly Horrible!

[Yak]

LOL I don't mean that being sporty in itself is bad but simply that there seems to be an idea in the books that one has to be good at games, and swimming, and team work, and those who aren't are weak characters or flawed in some other type of way. All of a sudden June is shown to have this marvellous - and hitherto unsuspected - talent for games which just happens to cooincide with her 'rehabilitation'

[manzanita]

I know what you meant, and reading my post, I don't come across too well! I meant that if being good at sports is the sign of a good person, I am truly horrible because I am no good at sports!

But I agree with you and the link between love of sports and being "good" at MT. Rather irrelevant to me as to the worth of a person but hey ho! It is accurate though as I remember at secondary school the sporty types were popular with the other pupils and teachers.

Although I wonder if it actually is nothing to do with being good at sport, rather that it exudes a confidence that others are attracted to. Whereas me, who isn't good at sports did have a sense of "failure" about myself which I daresay was "unattractive" to the teachers and others.

[Yak]

Well I was terrible at sports . I was not unfit but I was just totally inept when it came to running and catching and throwing. So I always felt a sort of strange ... not resentment but a sort of 'sigh', I guess, when I read how good most of my favourite heroines were at games.

Happily there were always some who were not though .. Claudine and Carlotta for example!