Posted by Paul Flint on 12/22/99 from 212.173.82.231 via proxy webcache-04.p.ps.ifl.net:
In Reply to: Re: War & SW betrayal (was WAR!) posted by Edwin M. Kiser on December 18, 1999 at 05:08:20:
I am a little surprised that Ed Kiser is concerned by the acts of implied or actual "violence" in the AR books - particularly in those books which are true to life. Like other respondents on this theme, my 60's childhood was heavily influenced by AR and also often included pretend wars with home-made bows and arrows (the only rule, as far as I recall, being not to aim at faces and eyes), rough and tumble which occasionally ended in blows and tears, and a mixture of spoken and tacit rules of engagement. My childhood was ordinary, rather than unusual, and I would regard practically all that happens along these lines in AR's books as understating (or at least consistent with) what generally happens in reality. These days children still engage in similar sometimes misguided and over-boisterous play. It is all part of growing up. The conflicts between Swallows, Amazons, etc are a pale and acceptable contrast with actual violence on streets, bullying and other unsavoury aspects of being youthful. Even in the 20s and 30s my father who lived in Penrith near the edge of the Lake District, was subjected to harsh treatment by local lads who were far from playing (his hand was spiked on an iron railing in the town centre by some local tough louts). I know of plenty of stories from my parents' era of playing with air rifles, pyrotechnics, etc which implied a low level of adult concern and plenty of high spirits. In fact much of what ordinary children got up to pre-war would now land them in the local courts for punishment. AR certainly certainly does not over-state the natural physical competitiveness and propensity to childhood "violence" of his period or indeed the present age.
When I read the AR books I am more likely to raise an eyebrow at some of the apparent naivete which accompanied some activities. No experienced walkers, particularly local people in the Lake District, would venture into the mountains in sub-zero conditions without adequate clothing and equipment - certianly not with the bare legs and basic clothes and equipment used by the S, A and Ds in WH. Those involved in the search and rescue operation at the end of WH would, certainly these days, take a dim view of young children venturing into snowy wastes ill-prepared, and I suspect that they would have taken the same view in the inter-war years too. The emergency services would not have gone home uncomplaining and put it all down just to youthful high-spirits! Perhaps even here I may be wrong about the standards which apply in reality. In retrospect, no doubt foolishly, I climbed Helvellyn at the age of 5 in wellington boots and bare legs with snow on the top (but at least with my parents to "carry the can" had there been a mishap).
Is there not a danger that the AR books and the characters in them may be over-analysed and viewed too objectively, rather than being taken just for the jolly good stories they are?