Ruth Gervis

[Enikyoga]

I have tried to scan a Ruth Gervis illustration here but with little success. I will explain later.
Stephen I.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Do you mean you're having problems scanning the picture onto your computer, Stephen, or problems getting it onto the forums? You probably know that you have to save your image to a site like Photobucket and that it mustn't be too large (I think the maximum size for the forums is 520 x 520 pixels). Below each picture on Photobucket is a list of links. If you copy and paste the link with the (img)(/img) tags around it into your forums post, the picture will show up when you press "Submit".

[Enikyoga]

A million thanks Anita. it appears I have managed to transport the PDF picture/photo into my e-mail which in turn I will try to post in this forum segment.
Stephen I.

[Enikyoga]

http://webmail.excite.com/c55d4374/gds/popout.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Fiona1986]

It doesn't work, it just says loading and never actually loads anything. As Anita explained the best way to share a picture is to upload it to a free hosting site like photobucket, and then post the links here.

[Enikyoga]

ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN


THE QUEEN ELIZABETH FAMILY

The pictures are working!

At last I got a good tech-savvy gentleman to load these two images after trying unsuccessfully to do so for several months. The two illustrations at best appear to be controversial. Nonetheless, this is one evidence showing how Enid Blyton was influenced by Mark Twain. The above image emanated from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, while the one below emanates from The Queen Elizabeth Family that was illustrated by Ruth Gervis whose signature is on this illustration. I have forgotten who illustrated Mark Twain's illustration. Since I do not have the two books with me at the moment (I happen to currently be in a computer lab), when I do get a hold of the two books which are currently at home, I will try to explain this controversy, the more.
Stephen Isabirye

[Katharine]

It's decades since I read Huckleberry Finn and I've only read The Queen Elizabeth Family once, so can't comment on the text. However I can't see how the pictures show any 'evidence' of an influence. The first illustration shows a black man appearing to beg for mercy from a boy with a gun, the second is a black lady either kneeling or sitting, talking to a little girl holding a doll!! I've never associated guns and dolls.

I don't know what the caption of the Mark Twain drawing is, but I've looked up the caption for the Enid Blyton one and is says "You tell your Ma to take you along", which doesn't suggest to me any pleading not to be shot!

I don't know whether Enid Blyton ever read any Huckleberry Finn, I think it's quite possible she did as she seems quite widely read, however if it comes to her being influenced by that book I can see one major flaw to this suggestion. She didn't draw that illustration, Ruth Gervis did, so if any one were influenced by the Mark Twain illustration, it would have been Ruth, not Enid!

[Anita Bensoussane]

The two illustrations at best appear to be controversial. Nonetheless, this is one evidence showing how Enid Blyton was influenced by Mark Twain.

The illustrations are interesting but aren't in themselves "evidence showing how Enid Blyton was influenced by Mark Twain", unless there are also strong plot/textual similarities. After all, such stereotypical illustrations wouldn't look out of place in various other books, e.g. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe and the "Uncle Remus" tales by Joel Chandler Harris. As Katharine said, it should also be borne in mind that the pictures are the work of the illustrator, not the author, and that the illustrator may introduce elements which are not present in the text. I'm not sure where my copy of The Queen Elizabeth Family is (it's on the back row of a double row of books, but I can't remember which row!) so I can't check how Enid Blyton portrays black Americans in the story but I'm certain the plot doesn't resemble Adventures of Huckleberry Finn!

[Katharine]

I've got an omnibus edition of the Family Collection printed in 2002 and assumed the picture would have been removed for showing a racial stereotype, but amazingly it's still there. The picture relates to a conversation between the children and the 'Afro-American woman who cleaned the corridor'. I do wonder if the term 'Afro-American' is an updated one, or does anyone know if it was a term in common usage back in 1951 when the book was written?

The lady is described as having twinkling eyes, dazzling white teeth and being friendly. The conversation is about the children visiting the Empire State building.

As I said before, I can't remember anything about Huckleberry Finn, so accept there may well be parts of that book that influenced Enid's story The Queen Elizabeth Family. However, as Enid herself sailed on The Queen Elizabeth to New York in the autumn of 1948, I would have thought that the biggest influence in writing the book was her own personal experience, rather than something she'd read.

[Fiona1986]

Well done ladies, you've saved me several minutes of my life as I now don't have to say all of that myself. You took the words right out of my mouth.

[Daisy]

The term "Afro-American " is certainly an updated version! Does your copy also have the reference to a negro Katharine?
"The liftman was a negro. They liked him very much indeed. He had such a broad smile and such dazzling white teeth."
It goes on to say a road-sweeper and the electrician who came to put right a lamp... were also black. Then.. "the woman who cleaned the corridor was very black, with twinkling eyes and the same dazzling white teeth as the liftman."
No mention of ethnicity - just a clear simple description of the people.

[Katharine]

Thanks Daisy, I thought it was an updated term. I've just had a quick look, and there's a reference to a liftman in the same chapter, who takes them to the top of The Empire State Building. It just says "The liftman spoke to them". No description of him at all, nor whether the children liked him or not.

Can you tell me which chapter the road-sweeper and electrician are in, as a very quick look hasn't mentioned them either, but I may have missed them.

My book's version of the cleaner is as follows:- "The Afro-American woman who cleaned the corridor had twinkling eyes and dazzling white teeth". Nothing else, although the way she speaks to the children is possible a stereotype of speech:- "You been up to the top of the Empire State honey?" said the friendly old woman. "Tell your Ma to take you along!"

I wonder, was the cleaner old in the original version, or has the reference to her skin colour been replaced with an age description?

[Daisy]

Chapter 11 A Wonderful City. The conversation is as you say except it says "the old black cleaner" rather than friendly old woman.

[Katharine]

In chapter 11, there is no reference to an electrician or road-sweeper. I suspect it has been absorbed into this:-

"Another thing that the children found very strange was the number of people from many different cultures. Daddy said that because America was a much newer country than Britain people had come from lots of other countries to make her their home. It was so interesting. They made many new friends."

[Daisy]

Yes, that's the paragraph we've been discussing. "Another thing the children found very strange was the number of black people everywhere. The liftman was a negro....." So it has been updated somewhat! There's no explanation by Daddy in the original.