Why no Mrs Goon?

[Yak]

Although not a generally very likeable fellow, I can't help feeling rather sorry for Goon. He's a village bobby of indeterminate age who is being plagued by a young fellow who he must know (no matter how slow he is) will one day be ranked very much higher in the police force than Goon himself is. He doesn't have much in the way of brains or ability but there are indications that he takes his job seriously, nonetheless.

Anyway I was wondering how much happier he might be had he had a wife? We see him, in some of the books, cooking and generally shifting for himself and it made me feel that he must have been a lonely soul. Why would such a man have been unmarried? I know he was a prat but there must have been some kind-hearted lady out there who would have liked to have been the wife of the village bobby!

[Petermax]

Although not a generally very likeable fellow, I can't help feeling rather sorry for Goon. ........
Anyway I was wondering how much happier he might be had he had a wife? We see him, in some of the books, cooking and generally shifting for himself and it made me feel that he must have been a lonely soul. Why would such a man have been unmarried?

Goon was probably single through choice. I am not qualified to comment too much about him as I have never read the F.F.O, but many men are so engrossed in their chosen career and various other interests, that they have no time for the constraints of marriage and family life in general.

Another example of this is perhaps Bill Smugs prior to his appearance in Island of Adventure.

[Philip Mannering]

Good question, but in my opinion Goon had to be single. So that he didn't have a son. Of course, Ern was very different from him.....

[Yak]

True - I wondered about Bill too but I presumed that he felt that his job was just too dangerous to get married previously.

There is an indication - tho not confirmed either way - that Jenks might hvae been a bachelor too; we hear mention of his niece but never a wife or children.

Goon doesn't strike me as being very career minded tho, even tho he does take his job seriously. He doesn't seem to have much ambition

[Lucky Star]

Apart from the fact that Blyton had to make him single in order to portray him as the buffoon that he was I think Goon probably just never found any woman who, in his opinion, was worthy of him. He was unbearably pompous and full of his own importance at all times and so was probably the kind of man who considered mere household matters to be beneath him. I know there were (and are) many such men but would you really have wished a lifetime of Goon on any poor female?

[Yak]

LOL well no . And you make a good point that his single-ness might not be because no woman had ever wanted to marry him but because he set his sights too high and did not think that any of the type of women who might want to marry him were good enough for him.

Plus I suppose we do not know what age he is .. he might be only late 30s or something and as such, even in the forties was not necessarily condemned to bachelorhood forever...

[Julie2owlsdene]

I think Enid was more concerned about the story she was writing at the time to think about whether they were married or not. Although Goon was part of the story he was not the main character and therefore I don't think she thought about giving him any kind of background. The same as Inspector Jenks, he was always in at the end but we knew nothing about him apart from the fact that he had a niece and liked fishing.

Also when children read these books, I don't think they even think about whether someone is married or not. It's only as we read these books as adults that we want to go more into someone's background.

[Ming]

I assumed he would be around 45 or so. It is mentioned in Pantomime Cat that "Goon was twice [Pippin's] age". Perhaps Pippin was around 22 and thus Goon 40+.

[Yak]

Oh yeah, good observation

I did like Pippin. Perhaps he took over Goon's position and house when Goon retired? (or was booted out??)

[charmstar]

Oh come on, who would want to marry Goon? He is described as unattractive in both looks and personality and seems to have no redeeming qualities at all - personally I loathe him because of how he treats Buster.

[Chloe]

I think this is a wonderful question. I think Mr Goon would certainly have been happier with the right woman.

I like to think that once he found her and maybe she died or maybe she ran off with another policeman. Either way he was hurt and dissillusioned and resolved to spend the rest of his life as a batchelor to avoid such heartbreak again.

I do spend a lot of time thinking that if Mr Goon just had someone to cuddle at night he would feel much better about everything.

[Moonraker]

I do spend a lot of time thinking that if Mr Goon just had someone to cuddle at night he would feel much better about everything.

Now that's an image I could well do without - thanks for that, Chloe!

Seriously, I can imagine a Mrs Goon; she would be plump and rather stupid. She would however, keep the police house clean, cook and be a great housekeeper for old Clear-orf. But, no cuddling please!

[Julie2owlsdene]

In my little mind of make believe, or fan-fic, I think there was a Mrs Goon too

[Moonraker]

Hey, hey, lovely lady! What have you got up your sleeve for us this time?

[Ming]

That Goon had a dark past of being almost poisoned by his wife - which is why he turned out to be a policeman?

(Stupid suggestion that. Don't use it, Julie)