Did Julian get his ears boxed or his face slapped by Mrs Penruthlan in the original version of Down to the Sea ?
I only have the later version with the violence removed, and I cant remember exactly what she did. I do remember being a bit shocked when I read the original though, she'd seemed so nice up until that point...
Also, what about sneaky and babyish Cecil Dearlove ? He needs a bit of a slap round the ears doesn't he ?
Yes, Mrs Penruthlan 'boxed his ears soundly'.
I never thought much of it when I read it, I just thought of it as being justified because Mrs Penruthlan obviously loved her husband and was upset that a group of children were accusing him of being involved with smugglers and wreckers.
I think, if I had been a married woman back in the 40s and 50s when it was more 'usual' and 'normal' to give a naughty child a smack, and someone accused my husband of doing something awful, I would probably leap to his defence and give them a smack too, haha!
What a violent lot you all are! Everyone seems to want to give out slaps ad infinitum! Personally, I consider Pip Hilton to be almost as bad as Peter (Secret Seven). I am heartened that some of you are showing mercy to Edgar Stick, a product of bad parenting.
I have often wondered if it was the wickedness of Edgar,particularly evident during his name calling of a grief stricken George,that could have been the cause of the wickedness of his parents.
In deliberately posing as a spotty pimple faced hateful kid,he could possibly have used this perfect cover to control,subvert and influence in a Machiavellian way his hard working class parents.
Think of the way he plonked himself in the Kirrin's lounge in their own Parker Knoll intelligently reading one of the Five's own upper class literary books.
He intelligently read the dynamics of bullying,staying just out of reach until Julian managed successfully to grab him by his no doubt constantly runny nose.
He caused the Famous Five to flee from their very own base camp HQ in the heart of Kirrin and flee like they themselves were the criminals.
Now lets just say there had been no kidnapping - no case for the Police to handle against the Sticks...
What would have happened?
Why Uncle Quentin would have come down on the Five like a ton of hot Sticks and possibly as a punishment again banished Timmy from life at Kirrin Cottage for having the audacity to savage Stinker whilst the poor man was trying to attend to his very sick wife.
This may have caused Joan to have been permanently replaced by Mrs Stick and allowed Pa stick to become an ad hoc janitor come handyman at Kirrin when his ship was in dock.
Compensation for the Five's disgraceful bullying treatment of Edgar may have come in the form of providing private schooling for the poor spotty bullied young waif.
If he applied himself well at science under Quentin's expert tutelage,no doubt supplemented by private extra training in the holidays, he could have become Uncle Quentin's scientific assistant.
He may have eventually been promoted to full partnership with Quentin & Professor Hayling.
The Sco Mass wheel may then have taken off worldwide and under the powerful rise of Edgar...now Professor Edgar Stick he may have forced Uncle Quentin to turn Kirrin Cottage into a complete laboratory.
Complaints from the children and a still hospitalized Aunt Fanny falling totally on deaf ears the children would be forced to take up the only accommodation available....a small room in Alf/James smelly fisherman's cottage.
Dick,losing his temper may have flew at the pugnacious Professor Edgar Stick, and thrown a ferocious right hook at the spotty professor's jaw.
The law would no doubt take a very dim view of the strong,wiry,athletic Dick daring to strike a man of science with a debilitating skin complaint...no doubt exacerbated by long sunless hours slogging away in Quentin's study.
Mrs Stick, now with new found wealth and income could decide to take a real shine to her own feminine appearance and the absence of her own unshaven unwashed husband,away for long stretches at sea could cause Quentin to lean on her heavily -- or even worse..
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane - Society Member
Although there are several unpleasant character's such as Edgar, Junior etc., I still feel Peter is possibly the worst. The others are deliberately set up as unpleasant characters, whereas Peter is presumably supposed to be a good character. I can't help feeling he'd end up being the kind of adult who is full of good works and goes around piously helping those less fortunate than himself. Unfortunately he'd do it with an air of "aren't I good to help such lowly characters" rather than doing it out of the goodness of his heart. I'm afraid I can't think of many examples to back up my words, but that's just the impression I'm left with.
One small example I can think of is when the wooden shack catches fire. Susie and Binkie want to help the SS to furnish the caravan for the Bolan family. Peter is adamant that it's SS business, and that he won't let them contribute. To me that smacks of wanting to take all the credit for the SS, rather than a genuine concern to help a family in desperate need. Surely in such circumstances he'd have been grateful for any help?
I'm in full agreement with you, Katharine. Julian Kirrin gets a lot of criticism for being a MCP, but I bet Peter grows up and turns into a pretty despicable character. A real sexist prig!
Whose ears would I like to box? Well, IMHO, Julian falls a distant second to Peter from the Secret Seven, He is arrogant, full of his own importance, loves the sound of his own voice, and his attitude to the 3 girls, is a disgrace!
And Tinker from the final FF books, also makes my list. An irritating and annoying character.
