Captain Flint

In the Southern Region forum ("New Member" Conversation), Rob recently wrote:

"I see myself as a Captain Flint - working behind the scenes to create situations where children can do things for themselves and enjoy adventurous activities."

This has got me thinking about the "real" Captain Flint's role in the books (or should that be the "fictional" Captain Flint's?). What was his major contribution? Was it to act "in loco parentis", thereby reassuring the various parents so that episodes like Great Northern? could take place? Was it mainly to act as a compliant "prop" for Nancy to manipulate? There are a fair few examples of this, from walking the plank to organising the availability of the North Pole. Was his greatest contribution the provision of expertise, for instance as a yacht skipper or a boat repairer and mast maker? Was it the provision of food? After all, in Winter Holiday his return meant that "meals had a tendency to turn into feasts", so Roger might well have voted for this role as most important. Or was it his ability and willingness to act as an ally, getting the Swallows and Amazons out of trouble: Casabianca, anyone?

Some of the thoughts above should not, perhaps, be taken too seriously. But overall I reckon it is an interesting question: was Captain Flint's main role to "work behind the scenes to create situations" - or was there more (or less?) to his role than that?

Good questions- I see the Captain as both an ally- willing to walk the plank when needed, and AR's god in the machine.  The Swallows and Amazons never had the kind of adventures that (for instance) the Famous Five did, but they did have adventures- being able to use the North Pole house, getting the Swallow repaired, sailing to Scotland- none of these could have happened without Captain Flint's work either on the stage or behind the scenes.

Imagine how different PP would have been with the Captain involved?  First, the evil Timothy plot would be scotched.  Second, there would have been no camping problems with him along.  Third, even if the explorers insisted on crushing and panning their gold, CF would have known the best way to do it.  Actually, the only thing left would have been flying the pigeons, so I guess it's just as well that CF wasn't around!

I think there was more to CF than just being there to create situations.  His being a bachelor is all-important.  He has no responsibilities (or the worries that go with them) and has done a lot of travelling .  I see him as a sort of much older brother figure,  someone that the children can have fun with.  He is adventurous, and encourages them to make their own discoveries and have adventures.   He doesn't show favouritism, but shows understanding of their individuality on many occasions and encourages them (John as a sailor, Susan as a cook, Titty as a dreamer - giving her Polly, for example, and Roger as an engineer, etc.).

He doesn't have much in the way of material possessions - a few things in his study at Beckfoot and  the houseboat.   The houseboat has an important role in the stories too, especially in SA, WH and PM - most of the happenings there have the element of surprise and drama- the firework on the roof, walking the plank, the flying Dutchman, the Great Aunt coming aboard.

Thanks, Pam and Pippa, those are interesting thoughts.

Regarding the changes to Pigeon Post, had Captain Flint been there, I suppose even the pigeons might have been redundant? After all, Mrs Blackett might not have needed daily reports if she was prepared to trust Captain Flint to keep an eye on things?

But Pam is surely right regarding the way they turned "Squashy Hat" into an enemy and rival. Captain Flint would, of course, have known who he really was. But even if he hadn't, it is likely that his way of dealing with an unknown Squashy Hat would have been different to theirs. I'm not sure whether it would have been more, or less, confrontational - perhaps that is a matter for debate? But I think it likely that he would have dealt with it differently from an adult perspective, especially if he had previous experience of dealing with prospectors in South America.

As for the "gold" - well, I suppose they would never have got as far as crushing and panning, or at least not as far as trying to turn their discovery into an ingot. He'd presumably have recognised their find for what it was straight away, then immediately turned to the background "native" tasks of registering their claim legally, and making arrangements to begin commercial mining.  

So Pigeon Post might have been a rather shorter story, if Captain Flint had been there from the start. But then again, if he had been there, would there have been a story at all? After all, Nancy's big idea was to find gold in order to keep Captain Flint at home, rather than finding gold per se. If he had been there anyway, then presumably there would have been no need to prospect at all.

The last comment was from me - sorry to be anonymous.   I forgot to log in!

Fixed

Previously Pippa wrote:

The last comment was from me - sorry to be anonymous.   I forgot to log in!

I suppose this raises some interesting questions about other stories in the series? It does look as though Pigeon Post couldn't have happened at all if it hadn't been a) for Captain Flint's absence and b) for the fact they missed him enough to want to get him back and keep him there.

Is it arguable that Swallows and Amazons couldn't - or wouldn't - have happened the way it did without Commander Walker's absence? Or Winter Holiday without various parents conveniently being elsewhere?

We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea unfolds as it does because Commander Walker is away away once more, or rather that he is on his way back but hasn't quite arrived. Whilst Secret Water needs his presence as motivator-in-chief, followed by his immediate absence to allow the story to actually take place. Again it is hard to see the Secret Archipelago Expedition going the way it did, had he been present to handle diplomacy with the Eels from the start...

Previously Pippa wrote:

I don't think there would have been a story at all if CF had been around, for the reasons you have both mentioned. Which would have been a shame, as it's one of the best!

I think CF was instrumental in SD also. Paying for the repairs to Swallow, reassuring Mrs Walker, letting the Amazons escape from the GA on occasions.

Geraint has catalogued the need for parents to be absent in many of the books - other examples are the Callums who never appear although there are frequent references to them.

Probably the only character with a complete and present family is Tom Dudgeon in CC and he only has a minor role in B6. The D&G's parents are close by and there are frequent references to them and one of the mothers does make an appearance.

The absence a parents is not unusual in childrens stories of the time and AR was an influence on other writers of the genre.

The absence of parents is not unusual in children's stories of any period - one thinks of Children of the New Forest. The reason, I suppose, is that if you want your child characters to have 'adventures' you have to somehow get them away from their parents, otherwise household and family routines will prevail - ie they will be totally dominated by the 'natives'. Even if they have adventures, it will be the parents who have the adventure, with the children just tagging along.

However, logistically speaking, the children will at some time need an adult around. This is where uncles come in. They have the advantage of adult authority and knowledge, but because they are not a parent they can 'ally' with the children more easily, and of course they can come and go to suit the author's plot. In this, the sudden arrival of an uncle (or a great aunt ) can be an very effective deus ex machina, as AR demonstrates.  A chapter heading in WH says it all: "The Uses of an Uncle".

Previously Peter Hyland wrote:

The absence of parents is not unusual in children's stories of any period - if you want your child characters to have 'adventures' you have to somehow get them away from their parents, otherwise household and family routines will prevail. 

The sudden arrival of an uncle (or a great aunt ) can be an very effective deus ex machina, as AR demonstrates.  A chapter heading in WH says it all: "The Uses of an Uncle".

I reckon those are good points and get pretty close to the core of the matter.

It is interesting that the Eel tribe in Secret Water do have both their parents around, yet they still manage a fair quota of adventures, including an annual human sacrifice. There are hints that at times the Missionaries do get in the way - the comments about picnics in the upper parts of the Backwaters suggest that Daisy and her brothers had suffered some pretty sedate and eel-less outings. But for the most part the Missionaries just seem content to sit aboard the Lapwing doing nothing. I wonder how AR would have handled their presence in the longer term, had the Swallows and Amazons ever returned to Secret Water?

Thanks for ther reminder about the WH chapter heading. That particular instance does seem to suggest that the children - in this case Nancy - decide what "uses" the uncle can perform, and he then falls willingly in with their plans, using his initiative to fulfil their requests: ie, Nancy asks Captain Flint to "sort out" the North Pole, and he makes all the arrangements they could possibly want.

Owen mentioned Captain Flint's role in Swallowdale, where the emphasis seems to have been more on Captain Flint creating agendas from scratch: it's his idea that he and John make the new mast; he brings along his fly fishing gear; he (and the two mothers) decide to move the children's camp without telling them. This doesn't preclude the fact that the Swallows and Amazons are creating ideas and adventures of their own. But it does seem to suggest that he is indeed "working behind the scenes to create situations" in the way Rob suggested (and which I quoted at the start of this conversation).

Maybe the key to Captain Flint lies in his visit to Peter Duck's, where he reminices on his own discovery of the cave, thirty years before. Somehow, in that moment, we're shown that Captain Flint was once a child himself; more importantly, he hasn't forgotten what it is to be one. Perhaps it is this that really makes him so useful as an uncle?  

I would take Geraint's perceptive comment that Capn Flint hasn't forgotten what it is to be a child a little further. I think it is significant that as well as being an uncle, Capn Flint is still single. This means that he can devote time to the children - a whole day if necessary - without having to explain this to a wife, and also that he can disappear overseas or wherever, when the plot requires this.

Take the party aboard the houseboat in SA, and CF walking the plank. He can wholeheartedly enter the spirit of this. I feel that if a Mrs Flint, sorry Mrs Turner, had been present, we would hear "Oh darling, surely you're not going into the water in your best trousers?" And if the couple had had children, then we'd hear "Oh Dad, not again - boooring!!"

Previously Peter Hyland wrote:

I would take Geraint's perceptive comment that Capn Flint hasn't forgotten what it is to be a child a little further. I think it is significant that as well as being an uncle, Capn Flint is still single. This means that he can devote time to the children - a whole day if necessary - without having to explain this to a wife, and also that he can disappear overseas or wherever, when the plot requires this.

Take the party aboard the houseboat in SA, and CF walking the plank. He can wholeheartedly enter the spirit of this. I feel that if a Mrs Flint, sorry Mrs Turner, had been present, we would hear "Oh darling, surely you're not going into the water in your best trousers?" And if the couple had had children, then we'd hear "Oh Dad, not again - boooring!!"

Thanks, Peter. I think you are right there as regards Captain Flint's ability to act as an ally because he was single.

I do have to say, however, that I once had the joy (?) of acting as Captain Flint at a re-enactment of "The Battle in Houseboat Bay", when my trusty vessel was veritably swamped by younger TARS. I do recall that my wife was present, but I don't remember her saying anything to prevent them pushing me off the plank, let alone that I mustn't get my trousers wet...!

I think that Captain Flint would be devoted to staying on water vessels and exploring the willderness!!

I thought it was funny (funny weird) that the Amazons were at war with their uncle in SA. I can't picture anybody being like that, just because their uncle wasn't doing exactly what they wanted him to do. I'm going to stay with my aunt for a week and my uncle's away for business, but I'm not exactly at war with him. Actually, I had an idea for my aunt, but that's a different story.........

Dear Deirdre

Having walked the plank over your other missing message, been eaten by a shark, climbed out, dried off, eaten an ice cream (strawberry) etc, I've found a second message of yours that wasn't published properly back in May. Sorry again! I can only think it has something to do with your posting these two on or immediately after my birthday (perhaps I'd broached a puncheon of best Jamaica, or something).

Best wishes

Geraint

Previously Deirdre Iams-McGuire wrote:

I thought it was funny (funny weird) that the Amazons were at war with their uncle in SA. I can't picture anybody being like that, just because their uncle wasn't doing exactly what they wanted him to do. I'm going to stay with my aunt for a week and my uncle's away for business, but I'm not exactly at war with him. Actually, I had an idea for my aunt, but that's a different story.........