Posted by Ed Kiser on February 08, 2016 at 08:02:44 user Kisered.
In Reply to: Gibber posted by David Bamford on February 07, 2016 at 22:43:52:
Gibber is a prime character in Missee Lee, as he is the one that
disposed of a lit cigar into the fuel tank to start the fire.
His antics provide much entertainment as he imitates the actions
of humans.
He also plays an important role in Peter Duck. It is his
sleeping quarters that gets used to lock op Bill by the pirates.
So in ML and PD, we see Gibber as being one of the principal
characters.
In other stories, he sometimes is mentioned, but does not
actually appear.
In Winter Holiday, as they skate to Spitsbergen (Wild Cat Island)
they pause by the houseboat, and introduce the D's to some of the
past adventures in which the houseboat was the location. They
referred to the burglary there, and the retrieval of the stolen
chest, and as a reward, Captain Flint gave them a Parrot and a
Monkey, Gibber. It is quickly explained that both are not with
them now, but are at a zoo, visiting relations.
In We Didn't Mean to Go To Sea, as they remain anchored, waiting
for Jim to return, they are pretending to have just returned from
a voyage to some foreign tropical island. To make that imaginary
image a bit more real they wished that the parrot and them monkey
were there with them. Gibber is imagined to be up in the
crosstrees with the parrot.
In WD, we have the remarkable lucky meeting of Daddy, a rather
emotional moment, considering the stress they had been feeling.
His calm demeanor and apparent lack of surprise is contrasted
with what sort of greeting they might have expected if they had
encountered Captain Flint instead, with his anxious questioning
as to their welfare, including asking about the parrot and
Gibber, but their Father could wait and get the whole story later
when they were alone together.
Also in WD, having arrived in Holland and have taken Daddy on
board, they are surprised at the unsteadiness felt by walking on
motionless land when crossing over on a plank. Roger,
remembering Gibber, comes across there using both hands as Gibber
would have done.
In Swallowdale, as they were making preparations to go camping on
Wild Cat Island, Roger asked about making a tent for Gibber too,
but that was promptly discarded as being unnecessary, since he
was at the zoo, even though he was officially on the ship's papers
as a crew member.
Ed Kiser, Kentucky, USA [ kisered@aol.com ]
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