Re: AR Mention in Times of London


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Posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett on November 28, 2007 at 09:56:06 from 81.144.214.226 user ACB.

In Reply to: Re: AR Mention in Times of London posted by andyb on November 27, 2007 at 18:41:18:

The books were written at a time when many fathers were either absent, through overseas postings, or dead.

Besides the considerable demands of the Empire for administrators soldiers, missionaries and merchants, merchant seamen in the then-vast British fleet joined their ships for tours of two or three years' duration.

Ransome gives us two absent fathers and one dead one.

The Swallows' father is very important, though largely absent. He taught John and Susan to sail and, presumably, gave them their interest in boats; he certainly carries moral authority for John and Susan, and is understandably less "present" to Titty and Roger, who have seen less of him.

Professor Callum is at least as important for Dick as Commander Walker is for John, if anything, rather more so, and he is absent all the way through the stories.

Both fathers do indeed lay down a programme for action by their sons; Dick expressly writes to his father for advice and instruction.

At a time when a great many children were being raised by their mothers, their fathers having died in WW1, it made sense for Ransome to include such a family unit, and he does so. Mrs Blackett repeatedly shows concern about the "wildness" of her fatherless girls, reflecting concerns that may have been felt widely in society at the time.


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