Prudence Arnold

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Yak
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Prudence Arnold

Post by Yak »

I am rereading the SC series at the moment. Prudence Arnold is an interesting character. She's not likeable at all but I wonder if she was given enough of a chance by the head? The thing is, she was not REALLY responsible for what happened to Sadie. All she did was pass on a note .. the same as Angela did in Fourth Form. Sure she should not have done it but the alternative would have been to report it to Miss Theobald and get another girl into trouble. Did she really deserve to be expelled? Couldn't she have been given one more chance to recognise her character flaws and change them?
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Re: Prudence Arnold

Post by Darrell71 »

Yes, they did that with some girls but not with Prudence. I have a feeling that Enid used to copy some characters after examples in her own life, and if the person was bad in real life, then he/she would be bad in her books too. But if she had seen somebody get a chance under her own eyes, the same would happen in the books! This is what I think!
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Re: Prudence Arnold

Post by Poppy »

I believe it was her last chance though?
She was pretty beastly...
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Yak
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Re: Prudence Arnold

Post by Yak »

But what she did as not necessarily wrong..
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Re: Prudence Arnold

Post by Darrell71 »

Pretty much it was. But not as wrong as to expel her immediately! Like Yak said, It's true she was beastly, but she should have been given a chance Poppy. What makes you say it was probably her last chance.
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Re: Prudence Arnold

Post by Poppy »

I think I got mixed up and was thinking about Alma Pudden having one last chance... sorry for the confusion! :D
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Re: Prudence Arnold

Post by Yak »

Well Miss Theobald had told her that she would not be kept at the school if she did not change, true. but at the same time, any of the other girls could have intercepted that note, given it to Sadie and she'd still have been kidnapped
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Re: Prudence Arnold

Post by Darrell71 »

Yes Yak, but if it had been any of the other girls doing that then probably Miss.Theobald wouldn't have expelled her. But as it was Prudence and she hadn't changed, things might have been different...
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Re: Prudence Arnold

Post by Poppy »

I do remember Prudence feeling guilty after the kidnapping of Sadie... Maybe she was going to change but Miss Theoblad didn't let her have chance. I think Prudence would have turned out quite decent if she had been given the chance but obviously head was quite sick of her though, and the girls too.
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Re: Prudence Arnold

Post by Yak »

Well that is what Miss Theobald said .. 'you will never be liked by any of the girls now'. but others were given a chance .. Elsie, for instance, or Alma even though they were also widely disliked.
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Re: Prudence Arnold

Post by Darrell71 »

Yes, so I do think now that MissTheobald was unfair. Good observation Yak!!
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Re: Prudence Arnold

Post by Daisy »

When you consider how many wrong things Prudence did, I think the outcome was unavoidable. She cheated, she told tales, and then when she was found out she still tried to wriggle out of it. She sent a note to Miss Theobald - too cowardly to look her in the face, and then went on the same deceitful and vindictive way. She was found out and her punishment was not immediate expulsion, but the need to remain at school where the girls knew how awful she had been and treated her accordingly. She did not return the next term, at Miss Theobald's request, of course, but she had her punishment by not being allowed to "run away from her troubles". Until the last couple of days the girls did not know that Prudence would not be returning and their behaviour towards her started to teach her a lesson. When they did hear she was leaving they were a little kinder to her.
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Re: Prudence Arnold

Post by Yak »

I wonder if she was actually expelled or just asked not to come back? The book is not very clear.
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Re: Prudence Arnold

Post by Daisy »

I agree Jo, but as it didn't explicitly say she was, perhaps we can take it that the "asking not to come back" was a slightly gentler way of achieving the same end. No Prudence next term!
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Re: Prudence Arnold

Post by Poppy »

Perhaps Miss Theoblad should have used the same method she used with Alma Pudden (Well I think it was Alma) by sending Prudence down or up to a different form, but maybe, because the whole school knew of Sadie being kidnapped, they would not have been willing to give her another chance... :?
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