Posted by Jock on February 06, 2006 at 20:38:02 from 81.76.103.129 user Jock.
In Reply to: Re: AR's politics posted by Peter H on February 06, 2006 at 17:22:29:
Jock is absolutely right, and therefore AR was a rabid socialist and detested the royal family,
I never said any of the above and I wish Peter H would stop trying to caricature my opinions.
I think it's entirely legitimate to inquire what AR's political and social values were at the time he wrote the S&A series and whether the books in any way reflect these values. I've always regarded the series as unashamedly anti-authoritarian. I even seem to recall Peter H arguing some time ago that the books could be dangerous if read by impressionable adults.
Whether AR was a socialist at that time is a moot point. There is, of course, the affair of the smuggled diamonds. But, I'm more interested in letting the books speak for themselves. Ransome portrays 'ordinary folk' with great sympathy, be they charcoal burners, eel-men or masters of Thames barges. The Swallows manage themselves in a very devolved style which is light years ahead of the hierachical management style of the Royal Navy which John hopes to join.
Does all this conclusively prove that AR was a socialist at the time? Of course not! It would need an analysis of all of the 100 or so characters in the books done with Ed Kiser type throughness to see if there were any significant statistical correlations. It wouldn't 'prove' anything, but the results would certainly be interesting.