Prudence Arnold

[Poppy]

Obviously not about silly things like that!

[Darrell71]

Totally silly!! I guess girls DO get the same edu as boys now!!


Even I love to debate!!

[Poppy]

Yes, I agree with you there Sunskriti, Women are about equal to men these days so there is no need to debate over such a thing!

[Darrell71]

Mhhhmmm... hey! I have an idea! Should we have a debating thread to debate over good stuff, mind you?

[Anita Bensoussane]

There's no need for a special debating thread. Most of the threads on here are a sort of debate or discussion really!

[Poppy]

I was thinking about that too Sunskriti, but I agree with Anita, if you ever think up a really debatable Q about Enid Blyton books, just make a new thread!

[Darrell71]

OK. I did think that might be what Anita would say pretty soon!!

[70s-child]

I have enjoyed reading this thread. It's particularly heartening that some of the younger forumers have joined in, instead of restricting themselves to the games threads. As for Prudence, I will say that the reasons for her expulsion seem rather vague when you really think about it. If I had to expel anyone it would have to be due to gross misconduct -- taking or selling narcotics, nasty and recurring incidents of bullying, being violent, carrying firearms and so on. But telling tales and messing up in general? I would think 9 out of 10 kids that age do all that and more. I am not convinced that it was right for Prudence Arnold to be expelled.

[Yak]

At the time that the books were written, girls did not get the same education as boys so I guess that it would have been a relevant topic then. I especially liked the fact that MT mentions having laboratories and also woodwork lessons (apparently voluntary after second form but we learn that Bill enjoys them right through her school career).

I don't think that it would have hurt to have given Prudence one more chance but I suppose it depends on whether she truly understood what she had done and how spiteful and unpleasant she had been and it is possible that she never would have done so.

[Poppy]

I think if she had been given another chance, she would have just wasted it and made a few more weeks of the other girls term horrid. I don't think Prudence deserved another chance anyway, she was awful a few times and showed no signs of improvement, then put another girls safety in danger, out of spite for aimed for another girl.

[Darrell71]

Yes, quite. But I think, now after re thinking the matter, that, Prudence was her own worst enemy. Bobby and her both learn a lesson in the book, and Bobby, really learns it, and improves. Unlike her, Prudence, just feels more and more spiteful towards Carlotta, who is a cause of most of he punishments, according to her. So yeah, on the whole, Prudence's character does seem unchangeable.

[Poppy]

Well said Sunskriti, I agree with you there. Nice research by the way!

[70s-child]

In real life, you will find many people who are unreasonably prejudiced against you. This can happen for various reasons like if you have done something silly in the past, because of a misunderstanding, because someone resents you for reasons out of your control, or because you are somehow different. It is often called getting your knife into someone. I am not saying this is ideal or that it is a good thing, but unfortunately, many people are guilty of such idiocy at some point of time in their lives, and nearly all of us experience it. While I wish I could get some of these tedious persons expelled from schools or the workplace, the fact is we would probably end up expelling a considerable portion of humanity this way.

Also, I doubt that expelling Prudence for 'spite' (extremely fuzzy and subjective term) would even be legally tenable in real life. It's also not as if the other girls in the school treated Prudence well. They were pretty nasty to her, and were often rough and rude to her. Some like Carlotta didn't have any problems slapping her or even poor Alison for no particular reason. So why pick on Prudence alone?

[Darrell71]

Yes, Why Pick On Prudence Alone is a very valid question 70s-child. I also agree about the expelling half the humanity point, and to the question Why Pick On Prudence Alone I don't have an answer. But on the whole, if other situations like Prudence come because of other girls, then Miss. T would probably have done the same thing. Situations like Prudence's didn't come any other time in the book, so if they had come, and the head hadn't expelled the concerned girl, then well, yeah your question applies. But otherwise the above is my answer.

[Yak]

We didn't, in Summer Term, get to see what Prudence was like when she first arrived at SC. Because the twins were late starting that term we only get a perspective of her through theirs, when she had already been there a week. All we know is that she is prone to boasting and looks 'goody goody'. It could be that all the girls werealready heartily sick of her by the time the twins returned