The Enid Blyton Society

Anita Bensoussane wrote:Maybe Barney gave off the same air of confidence and independence, despite being young?

     From my reading of the books, I would completely believe that he did have that air. Although he had hard times, he did seem to cope, and didn't seem a tragic or downtrodden character, but really seemed quite happy, and very stable and well-adjusted.

Anita Bensoussane wrote:And maybe being in care wasn't all it was cracked up to be anyway

     Fortunately I have never lived in any kind of institution, but I'm sure they are all, without exception, far worse than their public image is - and even that isn't always the best. Call me cynical - but I do have an inbuilt tendency to distrust almost any kind of large institution.

Anita Bensoussane wrote:Miss Pepper and the others might well have felt that Barney was coping better by himself, doing casual jobs to earn a living, than he would have done if he'd been handed over to an institution which may have been "care" in name only - not in practice.

     I would have absolutely shared that opinion myself. In their position, if I had encountered Barney and got to know how he was coping, there's no way I would have reported him or tried to get him into some kind of home.
     An institution would either have crushed him, or he would have escaped from it. I don't think Barney is in any way to be compared with the usual image you get of homeless people in the media, or when you meet them in the streets. Maybe I'm just being too romantic about it, though.

Regards, Michael.

This is a great watch

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... _the_Fair/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Viv

From what I have heard of British Care Homes it was no bed of roses Barney was probably better off on the road

I would tend to agree. Children were often abused (especially mentally) and treated as slaves. I would definitely have joined a fair or circus!

Just a bit about monkeys.....
I had an elderly lady student when I was teaching art, she had a monkey. She had found it is a pet shop in a cage suffering, and immediately rescued it. It had the run of her living room and used to lie on her tummy and poo on her, much to the horror of visitors. She was unfazed by the poo and said it was just banana and other fruit that had passed through the monkey! I think she had initially found looking after a monkey more challenging than she had initially thought and finding a vet with the correct knowledge had been difficult. The monkey died before her, which was probably best as it might have been difficult to re-home.
I don't recall what kind it was, but I never heard that it was aggressive towards her or anyone else.

This post - which I hadn't seen until now - makes me smile! 'Why wasn't Barney taken into care?' - well, mainly because then Enid wouldn't have had much of a story! Also, I believe (and maybe its already been said - I haven't read through the entire thread) circus children could more easily slip under the net. They weren't registered in schools, and therefore they weren't part of society - so they wouldn't have 'qualified' for being put into care unless someone noticed them.

Also - Barney was probably too old to go into care. I think he was about 14 when his mother died, or perhaps older?

I have always presumed that Barney's cleverness, education, manners, etc, came to him through heredity rather than being learned - rather like Oliver Twist is supposedly different from the other orphans, because he was born of nobility!

I've never read any of this series. They sound interesting, think I will see if I can get hold of some.

I agree he would have slipped through the net, especially (haven't read the books) if he travelled around.

It wouldn't have been much of a series if Barney had been taken into care.

As others have said Enid Blyton may as well not have bothered inventing Barney if she had promptly had him taken into care. His nomadic fairground existence would have automatically made him the one that child readers wanted most to be. He was something of a wish fulfillment figure for the readers. Enid was very adept at creating such characters.

Lucky Star wrote: His nomadic fairground existence would have automatically made him the one that child readers wanted most to be. He was something of a wish fulfillment figure for the readers.

Sleeping under hedges, having no parents, having to work menial jobs to get by? I really don't think most child readers would want to be in such a situation. Of course, his optimism and jolliness is inspiring, and his nature, as portrayed in the books, is very likable. Taking that into consideration, I rather think most kids would want someone like him as a friend, or would want the kind of freedom he has, rather than wanting to be him, in his situation.

Let's not forget that Barney was on a mission, to find his father. He couldn't do that sitting in a children's home. It was his choice to keep moving around the country to find his actor father.

Darrell71 wrote:

Lucky Star wrote:His nomadic fairground existence would have automatically made him the one that child readers wanted most to be. He was something of a wish fulfillment figure for the readers.

Sleeping under hedges, having no parents, having to work menial jobs to get by? I really don't think most child readers would want to be in such a situation.

It would indeed be grim but as a child of nine or ten I did rather envy Barney. I pictured thick, fragrant hawthorn hedges rather than sparse, damp, draughty ones - and balmy summer nights with star-studded skies. If the weather was cold or wet I imagined it would be simple to break into a barn or stately home and spend the night there. Building campfires and washing in streams when needed sounded like fun, as did working at circuses or fairs instead of going to school. Barney was admirably independent, capable of fending for himself and free to wander where he liked. I'm sure I wasn't the only reader who bought into the romantic image of such a life rather than dwelling on the harsh reality!

Gosh, I'm starting to feel rather old now!
I'm very adventurous, I love mountaineering, rick climbing, camping, wading through streams, all sorts of adventure sports, and it's my dream to get lost with friends on a deserted hill or something and have to stay the night in a cave or whatever. However, I certainly don't fancy a life like Barney. Perhaps it's coz I've always known the harsh reality.

Anita Bensoussane wrote:

Darrell71 wrote:

Lucky Star wrote:His nomadic fairground existence would have automatically made him the one that child readers wanted most to be. He was something of a wish fulfillment figure for the readers.

Sleeping under hedges, having no parents, having to work menial jobs to get by? I really don't think most child readers would want to be in such a situation.

It would indeed be grim but as a child of nine or ten I did rather envy Barney. I pictured thick, fragrant hawthorn hedges rather than sparse, damp, draughty ones - and balmy summer nights with star-studded skies. If the weather was cold or wet I imagined it would be simple to break into a barn or stately home and spend the night there. Building campfires and washing in streams when needed sounded like fun, as did working at circuses or fairs instead of going to school. Barney was admirably independent, capable of fending for himself and free to wander where he liked. I'm sure I wasn't the only reader who bought into the romantic image of such a life rather than dwelling on the harsh reality!

Completely agree Anita! The first Barney book I read (and the only one for about ten years afterwards!) was 'The Rilloby Fair Mystery' and I really envied the fact that Barney lived in a fair and travelled around, sleeping where he liked, eating Old Ma's delicious stews maybe, taking charge of a hoopla stall, etc. I always envied Barney. I envied Jimmy and Lotta, too, belonging to a circus. I liked the idea of a travelling life very much - maybe because I had a very safe and comfy childhood, so didn't think of the harsh realities!

I liked the idea of living independently, sleeping under hedges and in barns etc. I always envied sleeping in loose hay especially - as Dick and Julian do sometimes, and Lotta did at other times. It would have been heavenly! I never thought of the spiders or rats or mice etc - just the sweet-smelling hay! Mind you, I have hay-fever so I don't think it would have been so pleasant in reality!

I fancied the travelling life as well but with my eczema, asthma and allergies - not to mention travel sickness - I wouldn't have fared too well either! Johanna Spyri's Heidi sleeps in a hayloft and she makes it sound very special to sleep amid the sweet-smelling hay!

Darrell71 wrote:Gosh, I'm starting to feel rather old now!

You're just sensible - though still adventurous!