Which characters are best-balanced?

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Carlotta King
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Re: Which characters are best-balanced?

Post by Carlotta King »

I really like Lucy-Ann, she's one of my favourites and I think she's lovely. She obviously adored Jack but she wasn't a wimpy cry-baby, she was every bit as good as the others; she swam and dived just as well, she was part of all the thrilling stuff, she wore shorts and jerseys like the others (as opposed to Anne in her dresses) and she was brave.

One of the things that always stands out to me is the part in Sea where they're in the lagoon; Lucy-Ann is perfectly at home swimming across that deep lagoon by herself (when she decides to swim back to sit on the rocks) and diving down to look at the packages. I certainly wouldn't have been ok doing all that when I was about 12 or 13!!
That really makes her stand out as someone who can cope just as well as the others, certainly nothing like Anne still playing with dolls or Bets calling clues "glues" like a four year old. (no offence to Anne and Bets, I like them too!)

As a girl, I always saw myself in Lucy-Ann, and she also reminded me of my mum because my mum was shy and sweet when she was young, so that's another reason why I am very fond of her.
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Anita Bensoussane
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Re: Which characters are best-balanced?

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I feel the same as Cathy (Carlotta). Lucy-Ann has always been one of my favourite characters. She does tend to cling to Jack but I like her warm, affectionate nature and she's actually extremely brave. I certainly wouldn't call her "drippy". She plays her part in all the adventures and doesn't want to be left out. Even in the very first book, when the two sets of children and Bill have just met and are not yet anywhere near being a family, she puts up with her seasickness (with the help of a dry biscuit to nibble on) so she can go out in the boat with the others.

The four children have all suffered from having barely any family life. Therefore it's not surprising that, when we first meet them, Lucy-Ann is inordinately anxious about Jack, Jack has retreated into a world of birds and Philip is obsessed with animals of all kinds. As for Dinah, she's rather prickly and seems to have put up defences as a way of coping. I feel that we never get to know her quite as well as we get to know the others.
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Rob Houghton
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Re: Which characters are best-balanced?

Post by Rob Houghton »

Not sure if I've answered this before, but for me it has to be Snubby who is the best balanced. He manages to be amusing, idiotic, annoying,clever, talented, very brave (often has night adventures on his own) and is also kind and loyal. He's one of the most realistic characters Enid ever created in my opinion, and some of the things he does and says are genuinely funny. :D
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John Pickup
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Re: Which characters are best-balanced?

Post by John Pickup »

Snubby has always been my favourite character of Enid's, not because I consider him to be the best balanced one but because I like how he's written and he makes me laugh.
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stardust
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Re: Which characters are best-balanced?

Post by stardust »

Moonraker wrote:I can't say that Lucy-Ann ever irritated me. I am sure we have discussed this before - maybe on this thread - that Enid might have included the very young characters so that she could explain terms through them to help younger readers understand terms that they might not understand.
Lucy-Ann wasn't particularly young was she? I think the reason she annoyed me so much was that she was compared to Dinah and EVERYONE liked Lucy-Ann more, and I just felt that was so unfair because I liked Dinah (despite her animal aversion).
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Re: Which characters are best-balanced?

Post by Courtenay »

I must say I like Lucy-Ann too — although she's more timid than the others (well, she is the youngest, and has grown up as an orphan with her brother as her only consistent friend and ally, which explains her attachment to him), I don't recall her ever being babyish or irritating. She is afraid at times but she faces up to her fears no matter what, which, as others have said, means she's extremely brave, far more so than she herself realises. I like her more than Dinah, who, while she's a strong, bold and outspoken girl character, does annoy me a little with her constant fights with Philip and her terror of his various pet creatures! :wink:

As for my own pick of a "best-balanced" character, it would have to be Lotta in the Galliano's Circus series. She's cheeky, mischievous, headstrong and a bit naughty at times, but also loyal, kind, generous, brave and always ready to stand up for what she knows is right. I think I've said this before, but I've always found her a more appealing "proto-feminist" role model (if you like) than George from the Famous Five. Perhaps it's because Lotta was born and raised in a circus rather than in "polite" society, but she never spends any time agonising over being a girl in a world where girls aren't supposed to do all the tough and brave and adventurous things that boys are supposed to do. She just goes ahead and does those things — running away to find Lucky when she's stolen, taming the horse that no-one else could ride, and finally riding off on her own to find the Gallianoes and save the circus — without waiting for anyone's permission or approval. And yet at the same time, while she can be wild and unkempt and detests housework and schoolwork, she's also perfectly at home with "girly" activities as well, loving to wear shimmering dresses in the circus ring and to play with dolls, especially the one Jimmy gives her. Instead of getting caught up in society's arguments over what girls should and shouldn't do, Lotta just does what she does and is who she is. I do love her for it. :wink:
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Re: Which characters are best-balanced?

Post by Darrell71 »

As far as well balanced characters go, my view is narrow as I've not read many of the main series completely, but I'll go with Sally Hope from MT. She was steadfast and loyal, and though she had major faults such as jealousy, she grows through these faults and in the end you tend to remember her good points much more than her bad ones, unlike Darrell, who is almost synonymous with having a hot temper. At the same time, I didn't ever think of her as goody goody and dull. I actually don't like her very much, but I definitely think she's well balanced.
I've always liked Jack and Phillip, but wouldn't call either particularly balanced, as they're bird and animal (respectively) mad, which seems to make them take a few weird decisions.
I've always been very scornful of characters like Lucy-Ann and Anne, though I know that they were both brave in their own way, just not as adventurous as the others. So though I know this scornfulness is not completely called for, I can't quite bring myself to call either of them balanced, but I wouldn't go as far as drippy, especially for Lucy-Ann.
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StephenC
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Re: Which characters are best-balanced?

Post by StephenC »

Anne and Dick from the FF, Janet from the SS, and Diana from the Barney books, would be my top picks for the best-balanced characters in EB books. All solid, reliable, intelligent and resourceful people, who know how to get on with other people from all walks of life.
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Re: Which characters are best-balanced?

Post by sixret »

I would add Andy from Adventurous Four to the list. :D
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Re: Which characters are best-balanced?

Post by mynameisdumbnuts »

Courtenay wrote:As for my own pick of a "best-balanced" character, it would have to be Lotta in the Galliano's Circus series. She's cheeky, mischievous, headstrong and a bit naughty at times, but also loyal, kind, generous, brave and always ready to stand up for what she knows is right. I think I've said this before, but I've always found her a more appealing "proto-feminist" role model (if you like) than George from the Famous Five. Perhaps it's because Lotta was born and raised in a circus rather than in "polite" society, but she never spends any time agonising over being a girl in a world where girls aren't supposed to do all the tough and brave and adventurous things that boys are supposed to do. She just goes ahead and does those things — running away to find Lucky when she's stolen, taming the horse that no-one else could ride, and finally riding off on her own to find the Gallianoes and save the circus — without waiting for anyone's permission or approval. And yet at the same time, while she can be wild and unkempt and detests housework and schoolwork, she's also perfectly at home with "girly" activities as well, loving to wear shimmering dresses in the circus ring and to play with dolls, especially the one Jimmy gives her. Instead of getting caught up in society's arguments over what girls should and shouldn't do, Lotta just does what she does and is who she is. I do love her for it. :wink:
I love this analysis of Lotta. I've never thought about her as a "proto-feminist" role model, but I think that's a very interesting angle.

Regarding Lucy-Ann, I like her, I just don't find her as interesting as the other three. I agree with Anita that she is warm, affectionate and brave, but she has a less forceful personality. I wouldn't say that excludes her from being well- or the best-balanced though.

I like Snubby, though I can see why Mr. Lynton doesn't. If I were a stay-at-home parent/wife like Mrs. Lynton seems to be, I like to think I could have him for a summer and even enjoy his spirits and cheekiness. I think Loony would get on my nerves more than Snubby.

It's fun to read all these answers again. One question it's raised is whether best-balanced can also equal interesting to the reader. For example, Hillary Wentworth from St. Clare's is a well-balanced, good-all-round character, but could she star in her own book? I'm not so sure. Flaws make for interesting characters even if not well-balanced ones.
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Re: Which characters are best-balanced?

Post by Daisy »

Good observations ... I wonder if the well balanced characters are the ones which make the more interesting, for what ever reason, stand out better.
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Irene Malory Towers
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Re: Which characters are best-balanced?

Post by Irene Malory Towers »

Just trawling through the posts, anything to divert myself from clearing up after dinner and I saw this interesting post. I think the best balanced character is Dick from FF - fun, nice, clever, sporty but not too much of anything- good or bad. He is not my favourite, my favourite being Fatty followed by Bill and then perhaps Snubby. There are distinctions between best balanced (eg Dick), most talented (Fatty), most interesting (perhaps Snubby or Barney) or ones that don't have any obvious flaws or major talents such as Roger or Diana. But these characters tend not to be that well developed and so we don't really know how balanced they are or not. There are some like Hilary Wentworth or Linnie or Lucy Oriel who in my opinion are just too perfect - but they will have feet of clay as every human does, we just don't know what they are. So my vote goes for Dick. If I have to vote for a second it would be Roger or Diana. Someone mentioned Barney but I would not describe him as best balanced (as admirable as he was) - in the first four books certainly -as he was (naturally) obsessed with finding his dad. That led to his great mistake in being seduced by Mr Marvel's promise of finding his dad and believing that good old Dummy could be a villain. Perhaps in the last 2 books which I find greatly inferior to the first four he became more balanced. I was about to finish with - give me Dick every time for balance but then that sounds rather rude in the Carry on Films style.
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Re: Which characters are best-balanced?

Post by Blytonfan »

Sally from Malory Towers - does her jealous streak matter? For that matter Felicity?
Hilary from St. Clare's? Bobby after she became "as good as gold"? Belinda Towers? Winifred Jones?
Many of the Whyteleaf kids?

But the others are all so right. Balanced kids = boring and recede to the background.
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